


Start-Up Sequence

by Foxflannel



Series: Galvanize [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abandonment, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Asthma, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, Bondage, Choking, Dirty Talk, Dominant Masochism, First Kiss, First Time, Gavin Reed is a Mess, Hate Sex, Lot of AUS, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Panic Attacks, Physical Abuse, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Therapy, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Wire Play, fangs, someone help this man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-12 10:01:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15337485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxflannel/pseuds/Foxflannel
Summary: Gavin did his job just fine without an android.  Unfortunately, his half-brother decided that he needed to change that by way of his damn revolution and now...here he was.  Staring at the spitting image of Anderson's plastic toy.  Except his isn't Connor.  His is better.





	1. Boot-up Sequence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bounsweet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bounsweet/gifts).



> Well, this was only a matter of time. My favorite pairing, in a series of ficlets. Currently, I have about four stories planned, but there are some ideas that my friend and I have been bouncing back and forth, so there will be some smaller stories to match.
> 
> I dedicate every single story that will be in this 'collection' to Noah. Without her, half of these ideas wouldn't have been fleshed out and she appreciates my love of 900Gavin and contributes greatly. I hope I can do you proud <3
> 
> I tagged...everything I could for this. Things are gonna get weird but in the best ways possible. I did my best to keep the characters intact and on character as much as I could. I'll add  
> more tags if I feel I need them. Currently, this story will start PG-13 and...go from there. I'll tag warnings for every chapter.
> 
> I even made a fancy DBH side twitter and I am @Foxflannel
> 
> For now, please enjoy this meager offering for such a nice fandom.

“I-I'm serious, man!”

Gavin nods, takes a swig of his drink and sets the glass down, turning to look at his half-brother, Elijah, the man positively flustered without the few drinks he'd dumped back into himself. Glasses sliding, hair a mess. Gavin nods again, sighs, the smirk on his face dying down with his laugh.

“I really think I'm close to a breakthrough on this project. Every day I get a little bit closer and I can feel it's on the verge of completion. This will change the world!”

“We already got automated vacuum cleaners and drones, Eli, making a fuckin' human robot out of hopes and dreams and tax payer money ain't gonna amount to shit and you know it.”

Elijah grimaces, frowns deep. Gavin sighs and fiddles in his breast pocket for a cigarette before borrowing the lighter sitting on the bar in front of them.

“Look, man, I'm sorry. You've always been a genius and I get that; but makin' some sort of android? We're lightyears away from that technology. If you want my honest opinion? Go to the medical field, use that knowledge to cure a disease or somethin'.” Gavin takes a deep drag of his cigarette and makes a show of blowing the smoke out as long as he can. “The world is already shit, and even if you could make an android, it's too fuckin' late to change anything about it. Everything's going to shit. If you think a handful of superhumans will be able to fix the planet or help people, then, maybe you're not as smart as I thought.”

“You're honestly saying me finding a cure for some disease would be better than this breakthrough? Gavin, Amanda and I are THIS close to figuring this out, and if we can, then-”

“Then what?” Gavin whirled to sneer, “Then what, Eli? You make a fuckin' robot that does anything you want for you. You really don't see people abusing that shit?”

“No. No, I don't. Because I know exactly how to make them obedient in such a way humans CAN'T take advantage of them. Think about it, Gavin: androids that can help with construction after natural disasters, android surgeons that never tire or make a mistake, androids that can detect fraudulence and accidents and assist people. This could change everything!”

Gavin shakes his head, tosses back another drink. Elijah slowly looks more and more downtrodden. Sighing, Gavin taps his hand on the bar and looks towards his half-brother.

“Look...I know you're excited about this. Personally, I don't see this being a good thing. I JUST became a cop, man, it's bad enough WITH people leaving evidence; you really think the world will be better if things go Skynet and suddenly there's androids going crazy? No real hairs or fingerprints, or--”

“I would attest to that, Gavin. Amanda and I know better than to allow a sense of...free will. It's the first law of robotics, isn't it? Besides, there'll be prototypes. There will be trials and tests to ensure that never happens. I WANT this to happen. I WANT there to be a catch-all. And who knows: maybe one day an android will even replace you...”

Gavin didn't need to see his half-brother get up to sense the vitriol in his voice. A threat. A promise. He wasn't sure.

 

Three months later, the first android was created. Elijah dubbed her 'Chloe'. The first android to pass the Turing test. Elijah beamed at the television, proud of his human-like creation. Gavin could have swore that grin was purposely cocky, aimed at him.

 

His throat tasted disgusting. For whatever he managed to swallow down after several attempts, a bitter, salty, bile-induced panic of a mess in his throat. Captain Fowler was still talking—to him—but he had zoned out minutes ago, recalling those years ago with his half-brother at some dingy bar and dive. Elijah had meant every word. Now he was making good on all of them.

And now, standing like a jackass in Fowler's office with his jaw clenched tightly, he felt his palms begin to sweat through the tight balls he had curled them into. After the revolution, within weeks, the police stations and FBI agencies had become overloaded with work. The androids they had used to help them with cases, paperwork, disinfecting, and documentation were gone. Very few had stayed behind, the others had left to be free. Out of envy of the other androids or out of guilt for prosecuting their own, he was unsure. He didn't fucking care.

There were a few unnamed bots with their letters and numbers only feet from his desk. Some acted like nothing had happened; others would keep their distance and communicate through their damn rainbow spirals attached to their temples—if they had kept them at all. Gavin got good at telling if someone was an android or not after many ditched their LEDs. It was in the way they spoke or acted. A certain stiffness humans could only try to replicate. Some, like Anderson's fucking pet, were more 'human' than others and it made things difficult to distinguish.

But then...there was his new problem.

While Fowler was mouthing off and not only giving him what sounded like a lecture, his hands were gesturing as he spoke, vision of the android behind him cut off by his arm or palms as he did so. Gavin still felt ill.

“--so, since everything's gone to shit and there's nothing else that can be done, and since your partner was injured and quit during the revolution, we need to fill empty desks. Your partner's old one should be cleaned off and he'll be taking it from now on.” Fowler gestured to the android behind him.

“No fuckin' way,” Gavin hissed, eyes narrowing, “I ain't about to have some fuckin' tin can tell me how to do my job or partner with me!”

“If Anderson can deal with it,” Fowler growled back, “I expect you can do the same. It's a temporary precaution until things settle down and we need all the help we can get.”

“So you're gonna make me his babysitter, is that it?”

“Reed, I am this fucking close to writing you up!” Fowler responded, standing up. Dwarfed in comparison to the android whose back was turned. Why did they make an android so fucking tall? It was tinkering with something, LED a steady stream of blue, glowing slightly in the somewhat darkened office.

“...So, what, then? We're relying on these fuckers to do our jobs?” Gavin asked, ruffling his hair in anger. Old habit. Old nervous tick. He could only rely on outward rage for so long before the panic set in...

“No! No, but we need more people, we're short-staffed, and androids can work longer shifts, they don't need to sleep or take lunch breaks. They can download information and get out there quicker. Until we get more people hired, this is what we're doing.”

Fowler sat back down with a sigh, running his hand over his bald head.

“Look, this is how it's gonna be. We got Connor still, sure, but one android equipped with what he can do is still only one android. Cyberlife sent this one specifically for us to use until we can get more men out there. And, since you decided you wanted to go and have an attitude, he's not just your partner across from your desk: he's gonna STAY your partner. You hear me?”

Gavin swallowed again. More bile, more choked air. An android as his partner? This really wasn't fucking happening.

“Fowler, I can't work with these fucking things, okay!? You and I both know I--”

“It's final. Get out of my office and get back to work; you've wasted enough time as it is. Once he finishes his paperwork, he'll get to the desk.”

Gavin inhaled but nothing came out. He wanted to resign, he wanted to slam his hands across the desk, to attack his boss, to destroy the android who was so oblivious to him he couldn't even bother to face him. Gavin saw red. And then he saw black. Black dots. He was breathing hard. Anxiety clouding his vision, making breath difficult to come by. He had to go sit down. He gave one last glare to Fowler, eyes burning holes against the android's glowing back, and he turned to slam the door behind him.

 

Sitting at his desk, he ran his hands through his hair. Breathing deeply, nostrils flaring. He could feel Hank's eyes on him; couldn't show him being weak, couldn't reach for his inhaler he hid under the desk. He was better than this, better than the kid he once was. Hank knew he had panic attacks. Hank knew. They'd partnered once before after all. But that was years ago, and now, Hank was sitting there, his own plastic prick across from him, typing fingers a blur, eyes unblinking. Uncanny. Inhuman. Nothing but wires and modules and Thirium.

Gavin slammed his legs onto his desk and glanced at the hologram screen in front of him with a grimace, finger running idly down the scar across the bridge of his nose. Android faces stared back at him. Robberies, thefts, B&Es, kidnapping, arson...the list went on. His half-brother might have been a genius but not even he could have prevented this shit. Androids with free will. Perfect beings with the chance to move silently, leave no traces behind. Hack a camera to delete footage, rig a bomb with their minds.

Gavin sighed again. His chest was still aching and he so desperately needed his inhaler, but he was fighting it. Unlike an android, he was TRULY alive. He could need oxygen. He could feel his pulse slamming hard into his throat. He needed to blink. To eat. To sleep. To...

He needed money. He needed this job. He'd have to kiss Fowler's ass until the android was sent away. He promised he'd be 'nice' to the next partner he had sitting across his desk, even if their taste in music was absolute ass or even if they were a vegan. God, he hated vegans. For a while, he thought it was unnatural, but then androids happened. That night he tried tofu. It sucked ass. He went to sleep hungry.

He didn't know when he had crossed his arms across his chest until he felt the burning ache get worse. Air. He needed air. He got up from his chair after fumbling in his desk drawer for something hidden in his palm up his hoodie sleeve and went to the break room to breathe. There were some windows there he looked out whenever he waited for his coffee to percolate, a TV to watch when he had a cold sandwich he slapped together minutes before he was late for work. He'd laugh and joke and insult the newscasters whenever android shit came on. Others joined in. Eventually, the androids outweighed the humans in the station. His laughs came less frequently.

He sat down on an armchair and looked out the window to watch the cars go by. There was a small breeze from the window, the cold permeating the glass. He was thankful he brought his burgundy hoodie and clutched it to his body. He rattled his inhaler, took a deep suck from it, coughed. Instantly, relief washed over him. It was never a permanent fix but at least it wasn't a panic attack. Not this time.

No. He didn't need to embarrass himself again. Didn't need fucking Hank cradling his head, holding him, blocking him from view until the tremors stopped. Didn't need Connor gently counting for him to try and breathe with every number he rattled off. Didn't need some lifeless thing giving HIM advice on how to live. Another sigh, another suckle from the inhaler. Gavin felt weak and it wasn't from the lack of air. He was assigned an android.

Somewhere, he knew Kamski was smiling. Serves him right. He was a dick then and he was a dick now. Nothing would change. His brother was living it up in some mansion far away from civilization and Gavin was scraping together pennies to buy some Chinese food for that night, his clothes unwashed because he was too lazy to go to a laundromat and his washing machine was busted. He wondered what would have changed if he was nicer back then, if he took interest in his half-brother's affairs. Would he be living it up somewhere? Would he have women waiting on him hand and foot, paintings and statues and recognition strewn about his own mansion?

“Detective Reed, was it?” came a voice. Familiar somehow, but also not. Gavin grunted in response, still staring out the window. He didn't need to look up to know it was the android assigned to him. He didn't care. He imagined he was in a taxi outside, being driven to the airport, his vacation paid for and the airport warming up his private jet. _“Why yes, I DID invent blue blood.”_

“My designated numerals are 313-248-317-87, model type RK. I was sent from Cyberlife to specifically be your partner. It is a pleasure to be working with you.”

Another grunt. Go the fuck away, get the hint.

“How do you like your coffee?” the voice was friendly yet somehow monotone. It reminded him of Hank's little pet, pretending to be human, keeping to the case.

“Milk and three sugars,” he mumbled into his palm. His chest hurt again but his inhaler was almost out. A small clink of a spoon against a cup, the sound of liquid being poured into it. Where he had to demand Connor make him a coffee, this one was getting right to it. Ass-kissing protocol. Maybe it wasn't so bad. For a brief moment, he wondered if this is how Elijah felt.

“Perhaps you should fall back on the sugars, detective. It is unhealthy for you.”

“You really think I want some health advice from a--?”

Gavin hesitated, arm outstretched for the coffee. Staring him in the face was....Connor? No. This thing looked eerily similar but somehow less comforting, less warm. It was bending over to make eye level. Gavin blinked, eyes quickly taking in the details. RK model. That's what it said. He didn't even realize what that could mean. Gavin quickly snatched the cup and looked back out the window as the android straightened up.

He had the unsettling feeling the thing was taller than Hank and that man was a good inch or two over six feet. Where Hank was more stout, he could tell this android was built. Wider than Connor, stronger, even with its jacket covering its arms. Gavin glimpsed over quickly. RK900. He recalled the first time he spoke to Connor, the way he called himself a prototype. So this was the completed version? Unnecessarily tall and built like a brick wall. Cyberlife must have appealed to the intimidation factor they needed to get confessions and having an android that looked sturdy was probably the best thing.

Where Connor wore a dark suit, this one wore a white one, its numbers and android triangle prominent, glowing, the neck lapels tight and glowing a dull blue. Beneath its coat, opened, was a black dress shirt, the neck clasped snugly around its throat almost like a turtleneck. Black slacks, dark dress shoes. It looked professional and dressed for business, but there was something about it.

It kept its gaze on Gavin. Blue eyes. Piercingly so. Unblinking. Cold and icy. Where Connor's eyes were somehow warm and a dark brown, friendly and inviting, these were everything that sent Gavin on edge. As if they would follow him around the room like a poster's would, judging his every breath.

“The fuck you staring at?” Gavin snapped, unable to take them anymore. The RK900 simply blinked, arms clasped behind its back, standing at attention.

“You, detective.”

“Why?”

“Your vitals appear to be in distress. Moments ago, you seem to have had a respiratory attack on your organs. I suspect that it was from anxiety. Are you feeling well?”

“Mind your damn business, Robocop,” Gavin sneered, looking at the coffee in his hands. The android said nothing, still staring at him. All business. Cyberlife would send him a lapdog, only able to stay by its master's feet. He grimaced and took a sip of the coffee without thinking. Perfectly made, just as he would do it. A little extra sugar to offset the bitter flavor. Gavin looked back with narrow eyes and met the disinterested blue ones.

“What did you do to this?” he asked suspiciously. The android cocked its head a little. It wasn't Connor but it kept that quirk. Pathetic.

“I added what was requested,” it replied simply. “If it is not up to your standards, you are welcome to change it.”

“Listen,” Gavin stood quickly, almost dropping his cup. The RK900 didn't flinch. “I don't like you, ok? I don't like ANY androids. So why don't you go back to your desk and get some work done and leave me to my own shit.”

The LED didn't even flick yellow when Gavin threatened it. Perhaps it was because the android almost had a full foot of height on him. Perhaps it was because the thing was designed to not care about him either. Gavin clicked his tongue and adjusted his hoodie. The android gave a small bow and left the room.

Sent by Cyberlife specifically for him? The hell was Kamski thinking now? Gavin sipped his coffee in silence. Fowler wouldn't come looking for him. People knew of his temper. He'd be left alone until he was good and ready.

 

 

Eventually, he slipped out of the break room once he saw Fowler was out of his office and sat down at his own desk, kicking his feet up. RK900 saw this but didn't comment; it was instead glancing at the cases lined up on its own computer, LED flicking rapidly but remaining as blue as its eyes. Downloading the information, processing it; Gavin didn't care. He hated it, it creeped him out. The android didn't seem worried and instead blinked once when it was done.

It moved to a few manilla folders already piled on its desk and began to sift through them, flipping the pages rapidly, fingers delicate and sure of every page before it raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Gavin, never looking up.

“It would be beneficial if you helped me complete _your_ work.”

Gavin didn't need to have working ears to hear the accusatory 'your'.

“Excuse me?”

“Apologies, I think I like to keep my voice at a manageable tone,” The blue eyes flicked up, locked on and piercings his chest. “It would be _beneficial,”_ the word was spoken through carefully enunciated syllables. “To help me complete _your_ work.”

“You got a fucking problem, Skynet?” Gavin snarled, standing up. “I do my job just fuckin' fine, and no fuckin' toaster is gonna tell me I'm not doing it right!”

Fowler peered from his office, rolled his eyes and returned to his own work. Hank looked over with a shit-eating grin and crossed his arms over his chest. Connor looked behind him at the commotion before returning to his work—or pretending. Gavin knew he was fucking scanning. His LED was flicking yellow. He opened his mouth to tell Connor to mind his business before he felt a powerful grip on his sleeve dragging him back down onto his chair.

RK900 was staring at him, disinterested. The blue eyes were practically glowing. Gavin's eyebrows were knit down in pure rage.

“I would suggest keeping your temper in check, detective, unless you have a spare inhaler hidden away in your desk.”

“Who the fuck gave you the right to go through my shit, huh?” Gavin mouthed off, gripping the android's hand on his arm and trying to wrench it away.

“I did,” RK900 responded. The hand tightened painfully. Yet Gavin realized how calm his body posture was; he wasn't making a scene. He knew he'd be cornered if he did. Gavin didn't respond soon enough and the hand squeezed down more painfully. He sucked in a pained breath before leaning forward.

“Androids aren't allowed to fucking hurt people. You know that, right? I can report your ass and have you shut down permanently.”

RK900 simply blinked. The LED flicked, still blue. He didn't even need to process that information. Instead, he leaned in himself to Gavin's ear, warm, artificial breath sending a chill down his spine beneath his hoodie.

“Then I suppose it is a good thing that I am not inflicting any pain to you, detective.”

It let him go and sank back into its chair, nodding back at him. A warning. Get his work done. When he wasn't looking, Gavin slipped his sleeve up. Fingermarks, burned into his skin, red and purple in some spots, bruising as easily as watercolor paints. He wasn't being hurt? Bullshit. This was evidence enough. The fingers were too perfectly shaped, indentations from the areas where the fingers had a ball-like bearing holding them, letting them bend. Android.

He had studied them enough to tell when an android or human had caused bodily harm. Elijah would hear about this shit. His android already causing him bodily harm. He reached for his phone before hesitating. If he texted Kamski, would the plastic asshole in front of him know? Would it hack his texts? Read them with its mind?

RK900 was typing away, filing out some paperwork for him. He had scanned it and collected the information; copying it down was easy. Gavin frowned and began to text Kamski anyways but knew he'd never answer. He hadn't for years, after all...

 

 

Once his shift ended, Gavin corned Connor quickly and shoved him into the break room to the android's confusion. Gavin glanced nervously behind his back before looking to the smaller, friendlier model.

“You said you were a prototype, right?”

“Yes, a few months ago...why?” Connor asked.

“Your fucking....upgrade. It's causing some problems and I don't want to deal with it.”

“The RK900?” Connor asked. His LED spun. “What kind of problems?”

Gavin pulled up his sleeve quickly, frowning, “How about this? Bodily harm on a human is forbidden. He can get shut down. He knows this.”

Connor glanced at it, fingers twitching but he knew better to touch. Instead, he simply looked out the door as well before looking back at the fingermarks making bruises and welts beneath the sleeve.

“My best guess is perhaps he is unsure of his own strength yet. The RK model is designed for combat, so it's only logical that maybe he's not used to being activated. His model is more akin to a soldier than a police officer, so--”

“A what, now?” Gavin threw down his sleeve, “They made you in a 'combat model'?”

“Well, all of the RK series is designed for combat. Self-defense is what keeps our parts intact and our memories uncorrupted. However, from what I could gather, its model is closer to what you'd call a soldier. Brute force is also necessary for investigations, detective.”

“So they tied me up with a tank on legs?” Gavin asked, running his fingers through his hair.

“I could speak with it if you'd like.” Connor suggested.

“What would you even say?”

“Nothing that would upset you. A deeper investigation of its mind palace. Read its components or find deeper information regarding it.”

“Yeah...yeah, fine, whatever.” Gavin left the room, grabbed his shit, and went to his car. Today was...eventful. He huffed. His hip hit the car door while he fumbled for his keys, a delicate reminder that his inhaler was empty. He had an extra canister at home so he didn't need to stop at the pharmacy. All he'd get is an android judging him there, too, smiling as they handed him his medicated oxygen. He bristled at the thought.

He managed to find his way into his car, crank his favorite song, and wheel out of the parking lot onto the main road.

 

 

Unlocking his house's door, he dropped his hoodie over a cheap hook by the door and clinked his keys in a small decorative clay bowl he was given. He didn't even remember from who or for what; ex-girlfriend or something he assumed. An old school project his half-brother had made probably, the artsy-fartsy type. He hated it. Fumbling through the fridge he found some quick leftovers to pop into the microwave before grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and filling it with hot water. In the freezer, he found one last frozen mouse, plopped it in the bowl of water to thaw. His snake was due to feed and he prayed the asshole would take the food this time; the closet petstore was a good half hour away and the delivery service sucked.

The microwave dinged and he stirred his food, popped it back in, shook out the mouse and tossed it in the snake's tank. After a good minute, he heard the familiar strike of the snake on the food and he nodded, satisfied.

“Bout time, asshole,” he muttered. Grabbed his food and a cold beer from the fridge before moving his way to the couch and turning on the TV. Nothing good as always, but he resigned himself to some animal show, and ate in relative silence. The first forkful was hot and as he went to blow on it to cool it off, he caught the fingerprints out of the corner of his eye.

Soldier-type. They were making soldier androids now. Why, of all people, did it have to look like Connor? Whenever he thought about the android—which wasn't often—he didn't exactly feel the android oozed 'soldier'. Maybe just a preset, maybe they didn't have the faces done yet. Gavin didn't know how it worked; he didn't care about Elijah enough to ask. As far as he knew, the faces were made so that they didn't look like any living human. Whether it was to keep the androids unique and have their own features or to prevent them from being accused of something they didn't do by looking identical to someone else. He was unsure.

Regardless of the reason it set him on edge. It was the same face, sure, but there were small differences that he picked up on easily. Connor radiated innocence. Friendliness. Someone you'd look at once and trust with your life. But this new bot, he couldn't trust him. He was stoic, bland, almost stiff in every sense of the word. Unwavering. Perhaps it was some sort of business protocol setting, Gavin didn't fucking know or care.

What he did know what he didn't like it. Didn't like how bright blue its eyes were, practically piercing the darkness of the break room, how they smoldered when they snatched at his wrist. He didn't like it one bit. Maybe it was designed to unnerve criminals, but it unnerved him more. Did Kamski do that on purpose? Make some sort of aggressive doll-like android and stick it with him on purpose? He couldn't wait for Fowler to retire so he could finally speak his mind.

He went to take another bite of is food when there was a solid knock at the door and, dropping his fork into the container, he got up to the door and peered through the keyhole. Standing on the doorstep was...

“You've got to be fucking kidding me,” Gavin glowered, watching the android clasp its arms behind its back, perfectly upright. The definition of proper. He hated it. Why was it even here?

“I'm not opening up for you.” Gavin responded. He dipped his head low and peered upwards through the keyhole. The android did nothing, LED a solid blue.

“I insist, Detective,” it replied, looking at the house for a brief moment before it glanced at the keyhole, making eye contact. In a panicked jolt, Gavin stepped back, and the door opened. The RK900 held the doorknob in its hand, excused itself, and shut the door behind it with a click of finality.

“No, no no no, no androids in my fucking house.”

“Are you always this hostile, Detective?” the android asked, glancing around the place without a care in the world. Glancing at the dirty dishes, at the fridge with magnets and menus and stickers, at the chipped tile next to the sink, at the snake setup in the corner.

“Only to androids,” Gavin responded. “Why the hell are you here?”

“I am still on the job, Detective Reed, and it is beneficial for me to continue working along side you as was dictated,” he answered, arms folded back behind his sturdy body.

“And I am OFF the job until tomorrow at 9, so you can go ahead and leave.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot and will not,” the RK900 said, walking towards the snake container and peering inside. Tipping its head a little, watching the brown and black ball now comfortable in its hide.

“Excuse me?” Gavin asked, slamming his food down on the coffee table. “I think I just gave you an order, and since you're not a deviant, I expect you to do what I say.”

The RK900 whirled quickly, standing erect, dwarfing Gavin.

“Deviant is an outdated term, Detective, and as far as I am concerned, I have my own decisions to make. I was ordered to work with you, I will continue to do so until I am effectively retired by my superiors. Until them,” the android said, eyes locked to Gavin's, “I will continue to follow you and protect you.”

“Protect me?!” Gavin snarled, raisin on the tips of his toes to glare back at the robot. “I don't need your fuckin' protection, alright? I have yet to get injured at work. If anybody needs protecting, go to Fowler or Anderson, they're both old, they could use you more and-”

“Detective Reed. Enough.” the android stated, turning back to the snake tank and fiddling with something.

“The fuck are you doing?” Gavin asked. RK900 just shrugged a little before standing.

“The hotspot temperature was too low, it would be detrimental to fix it as I have so the snake can properly digest its food. It could also cause problems with the snake's biological composition if it remains as low s it was.”

“What do you mean?”

“Snakes require ample heat sources or they find they do not get hungry. This should fix it. I adjusted it only a few degrees.”

“Whatever,” Gavin snapped, sitting back on the couch and working back on his food. “So, what, you're going to stay here or some shit? They tell you I don't take roommates? Only have the one bedroom and the other's for storage. Hell, you may as well toss some rent my way because--”

“That can be arranged.”

“Excuse me?”

“The money. That can be arranged. I do not need a paycheck; all of my repairs are paid for by Cyberlife. I do not eat or need sustenance other than a few packs of Thirium which will not cost much. If you require my paycheck, then by all means, Detective.”

“...you're serious?” Gavin almost dropped his fork.

“I am. I do not require a space to sleep, either, only a place to sit if I need to enter stasis for the evening or to send lengthy reports. This is also adequate enough for small sustainable injuries I do not need replacements for.”

“So...” Gavin swallowed a mouthful of food, finding himself rubbing his nose scar again, “You're gonna stay here at night and pay me for it?”

“Correct. That is the terms of this agreement, is it not?” The android glanced over, blue eyes locked again to his. Gavin instinctively felt a hot roll of sweat down his back. This guy set him on edge so efficiently it irked him.

“Fine...and how long are you staying?” Gavin asked. The android's LED flashed yellow so fast Gavin swore he saw things.

“I am...unsure. Until your work is finished and I am relieved of my duty.”

“And who gave you this duty?”

“Elijah Kamski.”

“My half-brother did? Why?”

“I am unsure again. I was never told. I was only ordered to watch over you and assist with your work. I was assigned to the DPD you work at for this reason.”

Gavin felt sick again. Kamski directly ordered this bot to work for him, to be his partner, to LIVE with him and protect him. For what? Was there another revolution coming? If so, why bother sending an android? He didn't appear to be deviant—and outdated term, his ass—so then why? What would an android hope to do that others wouldn't and couldn't? He realized he was being stared at again, another involuntary shiver. Was he being scanned?  
“So...the other android at the precinct is your predecessor.”

“Correct.”

“What do you do that he can't?”

“We are of similar design and builds, but I appear to be equipped with high-end components and a sturdier build. On top of this, I can remove my limiters.”

“The fuck's that mean?”

“It means...” The RK900 looked confused, a simple, subtle twitch of its eyebrows, “I suppose it means I am able to break limits other androids cannot. I can run faster, react quicker, am built to sustain more damage My components are of the highest quality, as is my technologies. I suppose I would be considered a high-end model. The achieve-all in technology.”

“Uh huh...” Gavin felt his stomach drop. Why would Kamski give him..this? Why not an extra Chloe or some generic model he found dozens of, on sale online, in clearance bins, used and abused and refurbished in stores? There had to be a reason...this model could be used for ANYTHING. To further any investigation, to track down the hardest to find criminals, so why...?

“Detective?”

“What?”

“Your vitals appear to be behaving erratically. Are you having another panic attack?” it asked.

“No! Stop fucking scanning me, ok?! I never gave you permission to do that so--”  
“It is not something I can control, detective. Unlike former models, mine is ever present.”

“S-So you have no choice but to constantly scan me?”

“Yes. You, others, the air, anything that gives off a heat signature, mostly.”

“Great.” Gavin threw down his fork, no longer able to eat. The RK900 simply walked around the room slowly, gazing, 'scanning'. It said nothing but moved...quietly. No noise. For something so tall and bulky it was...surprising.

“Great...” Gavin muttered again. Ran his fingers through his messy hair, ran his hand along his arm and--

“Why did you hurt me earlier?” Gavin found himself murmuring. The android tipped its head, blue light cycling slowly. Gavin hissed and pulled back his long-sleeve shirt, revealing the blemished flesh underneath.

“Ah.” said the RK900. Simple response. No emotion. It pissed Gavin off. “It was an accident.”

“An accident? You almost broke down to the bone!” Gavin accused. The android raised a perfect eyebrow only slightly in disbelief.

“I doubt that, Detective. I only gripped hard enough to cause substantial discomfort.”

“So you did do this on purpose!”

“Correct. Forgive me, Detective, I was not built for...delicacies.”

Gavin's eyes trailed over its broad shoulders, over its toned chest. Yeah, of fucking course not. They could replace this bot with a wrecking ball and nobody could tell the difference. It pissed him off even more.

“Is there a reason they built you like a truck?” Gavin asked condescendingly.

“I believe it is to do my job more efficiently. It is also based on preference.”

“Preference?” Gavin cocked his head, crossing his arms around his chest, “Whose?”

The android blinked, confused. “Yours, Detective.”

Gavin felt his stomach drop again, this time with his heart. What...? HIS preference? Why would he EVER want an android based on his preference, especially one that looked so damn close to Anderson's? When did he ever tell Elijah that he wanted something like this?

Then it hit him: college. It was no surprise Gavin got drunk and had some fun in college. Girls, boys, didn't matter, so long as he could tie off a condom and flop on the bed after a good workout. He was good at what he did, and when times got tough, he might have even used those skills learned for some quick cash. But those days were in the past. Everybody gave it 'the old college try' and he was no different. Now? He preferred women. He didn't consider himself bi, he didn't think, just did what he could when the need arose.

So now, maybe this was payback. He did share a room with Elijah after all, he probably saw all manner of people enter the room and leave at the ass-crack of dawn. Did he compile all the people he saw, tried to make the best android he could, for him? If that was the case, why give Anderson the first one? Unless, of course, it was a test. He knew Connor had to send info back to Cyberlife...what sort of information did he send him?

Gavin's vision began to cloud again with spots. He wasn't breathing right.

Did Kamski know all the times he had glanced over at Anderson's pet, all the times he had studied it, the way he hated how it smiled, how it dressed, presented itself? How it kissed his ass and acted so friendly? Did Kamski know all the times Gavin had muttered expletives under his breath at how lucky Anderson was? He would never admit it himself, but if anybody found out he had a crush on an android...

“Detective...?”

Gavin was clutching his shoulders now, sucking in harsh breaths that rattled his ribs. He was losig his hearing, a dark, painful fuzziness. His eyes must have snapped wide open because next thing he knew, he was on the floor on his back, being cradled by...this thing. It was holding his head up on an angle, snapping, trying to get his attention. Where Connor would have shown outward concern and a wide-eyed panic, this bot was stoic, eyebrows dipped in a sort of confused visage.

“Detective Reed, your breathing is--”

Gavin didn't hear it. His brother designed a robot after his college tastes. After his college experiments. After his one-night stands. He felt absolutely sick. He wished he could just disappear, to go to sleep and wake up in fifty years, hoping all the androids had died out and humanity was gone. He was clutching desperately, wheezing, breathing rough. Fingers digging harshly into the android's black dress shirt. Looking around, the android slowly held Gavin up bridal style and walked him to the bedroom.

Placing him down on the bed, the android fumbled around in the drawers until he found what he needed and shook it, handing it to Gavin and pressing it to his lips.

“Detective, breathe,” he ordered, and Gavin did, sucking desperately as the inhaler hissed.

Two panic attacks in one day. Gavin felt his body give out. He felt the tenseness in his body, felt the way his lungs burned and heaved and scratched for any amount of air they could get. Felt his fingers curling and relaxing against nothing. It wasn't going away. He stared, wide-eyed, glancing around the room. An ambulance. He needed an ambulance. Tried to gesture for his phone, throat closing up. He was passing out, couldn't breathe, couldn't see, nothing but piercing blue eyes in his vision, closing briefly, a softness on his cheeks.

The softness grew hard, opening only slightly. It was...

Gavin's eyes opened wider if it were possible, his hands clutching at nothing, trembling into the air. His brain was swimming but suddenly everything grew vaguely clearer.

The RK900 was kissing him. Nothing passionate, nothing perfect. A harsh press of lips on lips. Gavin sucked in another shaky breath and pulled away from the android leaning over him, looking at him, eyes trickling this way and that. Scanning. Scanning him. What it had done.

Gavin groaned, reached for the inhaler, sucked on it desperately and coughed until he felt himself gag. The android sat on the edge of the bed and watched him. It took a few minutes for Gavin to relax, to breathe, as stuttered of a motion as it was. He felt hot and sweaty but kept getting increasingly colder chills.

“Wh...” Gavin tried words but his brain was swimming. Everything was too much and not enough. He could feel the tingle on his lips from that too-close-to-perfect human skin the androids had. The way it felt warm, human-like. If he didn't know any better, he'd have assumed it Was a human.

“What the fuck...did you do that...for?” he managed. The RK900 simply tilted its head.

“Humans go into a sort of shock when they have a panic attack. If your inhaler was not helping, you were spiraling. The logical thing to do is to cause an outward shock for the body to respond to instead.”

“So you fucking kissed me!?” he asked, appalled.

“Correct. I could have knocked you out painlessly instead. I figured I would do the better response that worked out just fine. Are you alright?” it asked.

“You...kissed me.” Gavin said, dumbfounded, fingers instinctively touching his lips, as if he'd find blue blood smeared around it, to prove an android did it.

“Yes...we just discussed this, Detective.” it replied.

Simple responses. It didn't even understand what it DID. Let alone why Gavin was uncomfortable. It was designed for him, wasn't it? If he had the strength, Gavin would have laughed. Instead, he sat there, trembling, fighting off the aftershocks.

“Water.” he rasped. The android got up silently and returned with water, fresh and cold. Gavin drank it down, uncaring he got a good third of it on his bed and body from trembling hands. The android stood there, looming, watching him and awaiting any changes in him. Gavin gasped for air a few times, resumed drinking until his head and chest both hurt equally, and set the cup down on his nightstand, which the android promptly retrieved.

“S-So...what now?” Gavin asked. The android glanced at him, unsure of what he meant.

“I mean...you live here now...and I just...had a panic attack. Twice. Some fucking partner I'm turning out to be.” he grumbled into his knees he had pulled close to his chin.

“Your current mental state does not dictate your abilities, Detective.” it said simply. “You are under a lot of stress prominently and it was understandable you would eventually seep under the pressure. Is there any medication you may need refilled to combat this?”

“N-No...no, I was never given...no.” Gavin managed.

“May I suggest a doctor's visit for your condition?” the android asked.

“No, I don't--”

“You were considering an ambulance ride for a panic attack. With the current American economy it would be a disservice to try and call for one in the future. I can pay for it but I would suggest seeking a medical professional in the future, Detective.”  
“I don't need to see a doctor for--”

“I can recommend several professionals in the area that specialize in--”

“Connor, shut the fuck up and let me deal, ok!?”

For the first time that day, Gavin watched the LED switch quickly to red, stutter to yellow, then blue. He didn't realize it then, but he would soon learn that red was bad for the 900 model.

“I am not my predecessor.” it said quietly. Almost offended. Angry. There was contempt on its face now, a slight sneer. “I would suggest not calling me by its given name.”

“Given name?”

“It was not named as such in the factory; it is a travesty to be called another android's name. Would you prefer me to call you Elijah, detective?”

“Don't you fucking dare!” Gavin snarled, moving to a seated position on his knees, “You ever call me that and I swear--”

“Then you understand my anger.”

Gavin supposed he did. To be called his brother's name when he was his own person. It was a quick slip; he had seen Connor for months after all, had gotten use to the face. Humans matched faces to names all the time. Just a simple human error. He supposed androids didn't have to deal with that.

“Then...what would you prefer I call you?”

“You may call me my designated model number or model assignment.”

“Yeah, but...” Gavin hummed, thinking, “RK900 doesn't...it's too long.”

“Then my numbers?” the android helped.

“Nah, I can't even remember my own phone number.”

“Then you may name me at your leisure. Until then, I will be RK900, as was designated by Elijah Kamski and Professor Stern.”

“Of course,” Gavin grimaced bitterly. Of course Amanda would have had a hand in making him. Why wouldn't she? She kicked the bucket years ago and yet it seemed her influence was still strong on the robots. She was a genius too, after all, it shouldn't have surprised him. He didn't know what else to believe anymore. His brother and his teacher flipped the world upside down with a dream turned reality and it was standing right next to him, staring, speaking. Protecting him...

“I...I don't know, man, I guess...” Gavin exhaled, lifted his hand and dropped it in a dead thought, “What about Nines? You keep your model name or whatever and I don't have to find a notepad with your numbers every time I need you for something.”

The LED spun wildly, the jacket the android wore flashed bright white and then it all settled down, a quick bright burst and they both returned to normal.

“Name registered. Welcome, Gavin Reed.” the android spoke, too mechanical, a customized greeting. Just like that, Nines blinked, back to normal, and resumed its staring at Gavin.

“What?” Gavin asked. This was too much for his sleep-addled brain.

“I was just making sure you were alright. You should sleep earlier, Detective. I will finish your dishes and clean up your mess for you so you have nothing to worry about.” it said, shaking his empty water cup to promote that idea, before standing and walking to the door.

“Hey, wait, uh...Nines?” Gavin called after it. The android paused in the doorway, looking back.

“Look, I don't...I don't know how to say this so...” Gavin scratched his head, fluffed his hair, “Thanks. For...thanks.” he replied meekly, looking away. The android didn't move for a few seconds.

“The pleasure is mine, Detective. Get some sleep. I will be in the living room in stasis mode if you need me. Simply say my name and I will respond.”

“Uh...yeah, ok.” Gavin replied. He followed the android to the hallway, walked into the bathroom, and did his nightly ritual of pissing, brushing his teeth, and applying more deodorant. From the bathroom he heard the kitchen sink turn on and the familiar clink of dishes being washed. The android hadn't lied. But it still begged the question of why. Why did his half-brother send him a specialized android? He didn't understand. And Elijah never answered his calls, so he could never find out.

Finishing his duties, he peered out from the bathroom and saw the android was focused on washing the dishes. Its white coat had been draped over its shoulder, black dress shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal its arms. Tensing, powerful, twitching with musculature as it washed and held the plates. Realistic. Uncannily so. Gavin felt his throat work to swallow and he quickly darted back into the hallway. The android was always scanning; it had to have sensed him, felt his heart begin to race. Thankfully, it didn't comment on it and Gavin felt a little better.

He quickly undressed for bed, nothing but a clean pair of boxer briefs and some small bleach splotch on the left leg. He always was clumsy. He didn't particularly care; it was just underwear. He slid under the covers, took one last large sigh, and closed his eyes. The sink shut off and, true to his word, he heard the couch creak once and then...silence. Curious, Gavin left the room and slowly peered out to the living room.

Sure enough, Nines was there, sitting still and straight as a board. Legs somewhat open, hands clasped together between them. The white jacket was back on its body. Gavin hated to admit he wished he got a better view of the android without it. Instead, he found himself staring at its temple. Where the LED cycled a steady blue, it was now white, pulsing bright, bright bright...and then dimming to nothingness. Rinse and repeat, filing the room with light and then darkness. The android's eyes were closed. Had the LED not glowed, Gavin would have thought he was simply meditating.

The definition of human. Even from his spot far away, he could see the familiar swirl of hair, the way it was combed back neatly and cleanly, the little swoop of bangs reminding him too much of Connor. He hated it.

His own hair was a mess, swooping down to the other side. Maybe it was something people liked. He didn't know. Instead, he resigned himself to his bedroom. He had a long, stupidly eventful day, and he felt his body become akin to lead. It was only 10PM. He felt ridiculous. He'd normally stay up another three hours, but the fatigue set in. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Maybe tomorrow...

He'd have to go to work. With an android.

Get ready FOR work. With an android.

Eat breakfast and get dressed. With an android.

Always watching, ever present.

Gavin didn't know why, but the thought was growing increasingly more interesting.

 


	2. Diagnostic Scans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines has a few tricks up his sleeve that the older RKs don't have. Unfortunately, this comes at the worst time and Gavin's left bleeding and scared, pinned between criminals and an android both his friend and his source of terror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly reminder that this is probably the only other 'linear' fic so far in this bundle. The rest will be oneshots and 'word vomit' type stories. They all happen but maybe not in a chronological order.
> 
> This is probably the last PG-13 chapter as well. We about to get lewd.
> 
> As always, I'm @Foxflannel on Twitter and Tumblr. Come see my art and shitposts, maybe.

The first time Gavin had gotten to see some of Nines capabilities was the day he realized he probably needed something stronger than beer in his house to curb the shakes. It had been a little over two weeks since the android was his assigned partner, and while he was still deeply uncomfortable with it in his house—living with him—he eventually melted into the routine.

It was nice to have somebody to argue with, to talk to, something that wasn't just a reptile that barely acknowledged his existence. It wasn't a human, no, but it was something. He would never admit he was grateful for its company but somehow he could tell the android probably knew. Gavin would come home from work with the android, go to sleep and wake up to the android making him breakfast.

It came as a surprise the first time. Gavin woke up not to his annoyingly loud alarm on his phone that consisted of whatever metal song he was enamored with but by the smell of coffee percolating and...bacon? When did he even buy that? When was the last time a pan in his house got used? Curiosity got the better of him and he waltzed into the kitchen to see the android glancing at the TV, the volume off—so he thought. He didn't see the mute symbol, could heard a faint buzz of voices. It had to be on a two or four. He couldn't make shit out.

The android, now dubbed 'Nines', was cooking. Spatula hovering over the food, white coat hung up neatly on the racks. Gavin noticed that the numbers weren't glowing; maybe they only did so when they registered an android wearer. Instead, Nines' sleeves were rolled up to his forearm, an apron on only to avoid the splatter of grease. Gavin glimpsed a mash of yellow—eggs most likely—in a pan next to the bacon.

“Breakfast will be ready in approximately three minutes.” Nines spoke, eyes never moving from the TV, hand gently prodding each piece of bacon without even needing to see them. Accurate.

“You watching this crap?” Gavin asked, kicking his feet onto the coffee table after flopping to the couch with a creak.

“Yes.” Nines replied, a single blink, eyes only moving slightly to follow the newscaster. Stock images popped up and the trance seemingly broke. His attention turned downwards towards the food, scooping the bacon and shaking it softly of excess grease before dropping the pieces onto a paper towel-lined plate.

“Oh yeah? What are they talking about? Can you read lips?” Gavin asked sarcastically.

“Yes. To both questions. The volume is currently set to a two. I did not wish to wake you too soon.”

“You can't even hear the TV, so how could you--”

Instantly, the android spoke, mimicking the female's voice perfectly. Her annoyingly shrill, fake, people-pleasing voice.

“--and in other news, the United States stocks have plummeted another 3.8 percent! It's got people asking, 'What is the DOW gonna do about all this?' Is there any hope that the country can recover after--”

“Ok, ok, Christ, what the hell?!” Gavin asked, leaping to his feet and shuffling over. “They teach you how to do that shit?”  
“Do what?” Nines asked, scooping some eggs onto a plate.

“Like...copy people's voices.”

“No. It is not a learned skill. My predecessor was also given this skill to help with investigations. Mimicry is a surprisingly useful ability and is an important aid in evidence-related affairs. It can lower a human's guard and allow us to get to their home, inner workings or precious commodities.”

“Interrogation?” Gavin asked.

“Correct. It can also be used as an effective torture method.” Nines handed the plate to Gavin, who was staring at him like he'd seen God. Afraid, confused, curious, a whole manner of emotions bubbled into Gavin's throat.

“Torture?” he found himself saying. Another blink of those icy blues.

“Yes. Humans find their trust and love being placed into other humans. It is only beneficial to use that to our advantage if the need arises. Alternatively, we are also able to mimic other android's voices if we have been given a large enough audio sample.”

“Huh...” Gavin put his plate down, watching Nines plunk down his coffee mug next to it, sitting beside him as professionally and straight-backed as Connor had when he first joined the precinct. “So, basically, if you hear someone talk long enough, you can...steal their voice?”

Nines looked over and for the first time, Gavin could have sworn he saw a smirk. It was quick, a small upturn of the corner of his mouth, before the LED flashed a simple yellow to blue.

“Depends on if I feel like it, dipshit.” Gavin's voice. A cold chill ran down his back. Where Gavin had his own quirks, how he pronounced words, even his own accent, it was copied. Perfectly. He may as well have been watching a recorded video of himself.

“Don't do that.” Gavin hissed. Nines nodded once.

“Of course.” The conversation died. Gavin, needing the distraction, cranked the TV volume to a good thirty. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught Nines wince uncomfortably. Serves him right.

 

 

 

Work was uneventful as always. In the two weeks Nines had worked with him, he realized he had started to DO his own work. Not as fast or as perfectly as Nines would like, and he made a point to dissuade Gavin from screwing up, much to Hank's giddy excitement. An android telling Gavin what to do was priceless. However, if it kept Anderson from smirking at him from across the way, he'd do whatever it took.

Nines took to the research and typing aspects of things and did his job quickly, smoothly, efficiently. Everything a computer was. Flawless. Gavin refused to admit he was jealous. It was no wonder the world went to shit and used androids for their workers. There was never a screw up, everything calculated to the exact decimal and percentage. Nines hardly blinked, something that still unsettled Gavin, but he supposed they weren't REAL eyes, and unlike Connor, Nines was more machine than human.

He did his tasks without fail, without complaint, fingers a blur, face unmoving. The only time he showed any emotion was when he was approached by any other worker, by Fowler or Anderson, or, much to Gavin's anger, Connor. They spoke cheerfully, exchanged paperwork and information as if they were friends. Sometimes paperwork wasn't enough. Instead, they shook hands; rather, that's what it would have looked like. It was an intricate sort of detail androids could do; melt away the fake skin from their hands and show the silver-white underneath, bits of neon blue glowing as the information was relayed from one android to another.

Where Connor's LED cycled colors, Nines merely blinked methodically blue. Every time. Gavin wasn't even sure if Nines was defective, but after years of androids, he knew it was supposed to turn colors. Nines' rarely did. Another thing to unsettle him. He sipped his coffee while they held hands and, once done, Connor nodded and resumed his work at his desk, Nines doing the same as if nothing had happened.

Unnatural. A sigh billowed into his cup and sent the brown liquid in waves.

 

 

It wasn't until work ended and Gavin cleaned his desk of crumbs leftover from dinner—a simple sub he got at the store down the road—that he was called into Fowler's office, his giant of an android following behind silently. If Gavin didn't feel the carpet dip, he'd be pretty pissed.

Inside Fowler's office, the man sighed and slipped them a file.

“A case was reported about 11 minutes ago, was looking it over. Anderson just left for one or I'd have him do it, so it's being put on you both. I figure with the new model here it's be the best course of action.”

Nines didn't react, arms at his side.

“Okay, so, what is it?” Gavin asked, swiping his hand down the touchpad.

“Homicide, we think. Sounds of a struggle, of a scream, then nothing. Neighbor called it in. Seems to think an android did it.”

“Any proof?” Gavin asked, more swiping, more info.

“No. But with shit right now, we can't be too careful. Coordinates are posted at the top. Good luck.” Fowler said, spinning in his chair to give another cop a different file. Gavin squinted down at the pad, rubbed his eyes. Of all the days to forget his stupid eye drops for his contacts. Anything was better than glasses.

“Ready?” he asked Nines, but the android was already closing the door behind himself as Gavin slipped into the small crack of the door frame and swore at him.

 

 

 

Homicides were still relatively common in Detroit. Humans at their breaking points. Androids with a sudden jolt of conflicting emotions. Regardless of the reason, it was a large number of calls people made and even moreso, it was difficult if an android had been the one to kill. They had fake hair, no fingerprints, no spit or DNA to leave behind other than perhaps the dirt on their shoes or leaving the weapon behind.

In times like these, Gavin was thankful for androids to assist with the cases. He understood people. He knew what to look for if a human killed. When an android did it it was too calculated, too exact, too precise. No evidence. In and out, a dead body, an android walking free. There were laws against androids harming humans but that didn't stop them; if they didn't get caught, they remained powered on.

He knew it wasn't his half-brother's fault that Thirium dried invisible when it was completely absorbed. Whatever components it was made out of were designed to be in a stable temperature. He had tried to make sure the formula stained but was unable to without causing major android component failure. He had issued a public apology and offered to design special blacklights that could find the blood, and it calmed things. For a while.

Homicides still continued. Deviancy still happened. Some androids remained as perfect as they came: obedient, ready to serve their owner with whatever ailed them. A simple errand or pseudo-life support. Others had become 'deviant'. Human. LED or not they walked among the humans and behaved as such. Yet somehow they were no different. Was it so strange that androids would have the same feelings as humans? Driven to rob, to steal, to set fire, destroy. To kill?

Connor had done so. Another android, a police officer. All swept under the rug, accused of his newfound deviancy. He hadn't known what he had done, they said. He was doing what he thought was right, they said. Why then would Kamski send a robot the same model? Stronger, faster, more resilient, equipped with the latest technologies, he had said. To stop androids from killing each other?

Their car pulled up to the scene. A rundown apartment complex, maybe an old mall. He couldn't tell from outside but he recognized a parking garage from the outside. Someone had heard screaming that stopped abruptly. Strangulation, perhaps or a quick stab wound. There was no mention of a gun.

Gavin and Nines made their way into the building through a side door that had a chain crumpled to the floor. Nines explained it had been cut, pointing to a chip on the chain he couldn't see coiled on top of itself. Nobody should be here. Nobody but them, probably. Chances were, whoever was here was gone so they'd have to pick up the pieces.

Nines was always at attention, looking around, scanning, LED flickering blue. A steady stream or a rapid-fire spin. Always taking in information. Briefly he licked his lips and while Gavin assumed it was a human quirk, Nines stated the temperature in the air, the dust composition, the taste of iron. Gavin knew Connor could analyze stuff on his tongue but it was strange having his OWN partner doing it with the same face. Gavin hated having to look up at him.

Nines did his thing and investigated the stairwell while Gavin slowly walked up the steps, gun at the ready, making as little noise as he could. They had been given information for a higher floor that had been re-purposed into apartments sometime a few years ago. It had doubled as a shelter at one point...during the revolution. Now, it was the scene of an android crime. The irony was thicker than the tension in his lungs.

He slipped into the hallway and glanced around. Sure enough, rows of doors, like a crappy apartment complex would be. Cracks along the walls, half of the hallway lights were out, paint missing or chipped on the doors, some without numbers or the stains left behind from them. There was a bunched up, long carpet down the hallway that was red. At least it was, at one point, covered in grime and dirt from years of abuse.

The complex was quiet, unsettlingly so, but he was used to this. After a fight or murder, things always got eerily silent. Once the adrenaline wore off and people realized what they had done, often times they went into hiding. Others would flee the scene without thinking. Gavin had seen them all. He shuffled softly to the door and gave it a knock before waiting.

“Detriot Police Department, open up!” he shouted, rehearsed and second nature. There was silence save for a slight creak of wood somewhere behind him before he realized there was a presence and, without thinking, he whirled and aimed his gun straight for the perp. Before the gun had a chance to aim at the body, the back of a hand swung at it, deflected, aimed it back at Gavin's throat, making him hold it to his own neck. A suicide maneuver.

In the brief second it all happened, Nines dropped his hand and apologized.

“The fuck are you doing!?” Gavin hissed, voice only cracking a little. Just a little.

“Apologies, Detective, it was instinct.”

“To try and make me _shoot myself!?”_

“But did you?” 

Gavin glowered, pounded his fist to the door again. No answer. His entire bravado was completely shot and he was hoping Nines didn't notice his light quivering. It had been years since he had last had a gun pressed to his skin. People aimed them at him on the job, sure, but it was never anything he got over. Staring death in the face was going to be traumatic; he wondered if he knew just how scary it was when he, himself, held the trigger?

Gavin reached for the doorknob but was stopped by Nines who had a finger to his own lips before mouthing 'wait'. His LED flickered, a steady stream of blue.

“There is...three heat signatures,” he whispered quietly to Gavin's ear, eyes looking and moving at the door as if it didn't exist, like he could see them clearly.

“Human?” Gavin asked. Stupid, a stupid question. Androids didn't have body heat...did they?

“Two.”

“An android?” Gavin mouthed. Nines nodded and took a step back, straightening his shoulders before he shoulder-slammed straight to the wood. Gavin was surprised the door was still in one piece; the hinges came clean off, shitty nails holding them in the wall to begin with. The second the door hit the ground with a loud thud, Gavin raised his gun and Nines stepped inside.

The place was pitch black and the scent of iron and rotting flesh was evident. He was glad he smoked every now and then to dull the scent but even that blessing wasn't enough. He choked and sputtered against the stench. Not like he needed to be quiet anymore.

Nines was peering around the room in the dark before he turned to Gavin and shoved him to the ground but only a second too soon. A gunshot rang clear in the nakedness of the room and gave Gavin a quick view of the place from the muzzle flash. Just in time to feel the sting of a bullet in his arm, feel the tear of his jacket, the spray of blood. If Nines hadn't pushed him, the bullet would have hit him in the chest. The pain was still immense, the bullet lodged in the flesh somewhere. A simple fix he could get at the hospital. It succeeded in disarming though but Nines was quick, rolling to his feet and grabbing the gun before firing back.

Gavin heard the unmistakable sound of bullet to flesh, heard someone sink to the ground after a gargled, surprised scream. There was another scream, this one somehow scratchy and metallic, and another shuffle of feet. A window being pried open or attempted to.

“Are you alright?” Nines asked, facing the door where they ran through.

“Y-Yeah, I'm good, I just--”

“Permission to chase?”

“What?”

“Permission to chase them, Detective, or do you need my assistance?” Nines asked, checking the gun for the bullet amount.

“Yeah, go. Go.” Gavin replied, still stunned. Sure enough, Nines bounded through the doorway as if every single light was on. Some sort of night vision protocol he wondered. He couldn't see shit but could feel the blood running cold down his arm, exposed to the air. He squeezed his arm tightly to staunch the bleeding and tried to fumble to his feet. From the other room, he heard another gunshot being pelted into the wall, a miss. Probably aimed at Nines.

Gavin worked slowly to the doorway and peered inside as best as he could before a flash of blue knocked him to his ass. He didn't see the android, didn't see the foot planted to his chest. Thankfully, he managed to angle himself and keep his balance enough to hit the doorway rather than topple through it. Before he had a chance to recover, the android lifted an arm to swing but not quick enough.

Nines had grabbed its fist and in one smooth motion spun, launching the android to the wall with such force, the humanoid left a small crater from their body. Gavin was unsure if it was the metal casing beneath or the force at which the android was launched, but either way, the android itself was pissed, temple flickering red. They grunted and swung for another hit but Nines evaded easily and reached for their face, barreling into them and pushing them through the wall barely standing into what looked like a bathroom. Gavin could make out white walls and heard the clink of tiles.

The gun fired off again, a human in the corner adjacent to Gavin. Another bright muzzle flash was all it took to knock the life out of Gavin and he slid down the wall. From the glimpse he was given he saw Nines, perfectly capable, not a hair out of place. But he also saw blue. Thirium—Nines' own—sprayed across his white jacket. He had been shot. But that wasn't what unnerved the trembling Gavin.

There was a hardened look on Nines' face, a simple narrow of the eyes, a dip to the eyebrows. And where those icy blues froze him like the glaciers they were, they were now aflame. Much like his LED, there was a spiral, a glowing symbol of blue, seeping into the darkness of the room and lighting it aflame. Glowing eyes. As prominent as the blue circle on his temple that was barely ticking to yellow even as the android registered the pain, the bullet, the wound.

The man fired again but the gun gave a pathetic click and, stepping over what seemed to be a body, Nines reached for the man and gave him a swift strike to the throat, toppling him like a bag of bricks. The android didn't stir, the man was knocked out, the man shot was whimpering in the corner afraid he would be next. Nines looked down at the body he had stepped over—dead--and then towards the sniveling man.

“Did you kill them?” he asked. Monotone.

“N-No, it was him.” he said, pointing to the man knocked out against the wall.

“Who owns this android?” Nines asked.

“M-Me.” the man managed, clutching his wound with trembling hands and weak limbs.

“Deviant or intact?” he inquired. The man frowned.

“Intact. He was told to keep us safe.”

“He harmed my partner.”

Gavin's ears pricked at the comment, eyes still staring blankly forward. He wasn't even registering the pain at this point. The scene was playing back in his mind over and over. How swiftly Nines reacted, how intimidating he looked now, bluest of blues glowing in the dark. It was only now he noticed just how unsettling those eyes were, their pseudo-LED aimed at the man.

A crosshair.

A bullseye.

His target. Locked on and unwavering.

Nines took another step towards the man who was now just whimpering some sort of gibberish Gavin couldn't make out. The man wasn't expecting some high-class android to come in, demolish half the room, and take them out in seconds. Neither was Gavin.

“The backup has arrived,” Nines said placidly. “Everyone involved in this murder will be taken to the precinct for their punishments. A lawyer will be provided should you require--”

Gavin clutched his legs to his chest and felt the ache of his lungs. He didn't need his inhaler this time. Pure shock was running through his system. Where Connor was efficient and friendly, Nines was like a whirlwind. Powerful, swift, a quick force before silence. Had he not been here, Gavin would be dead. He would have had backup of course, presumably another human. They wouldn't have sense the android with the gun, wouldn't have seen anything in this dark house.

It wasn't until Nines was kneeling by his side did Gavin jerk and make a startled noise out of pure instinct. Taken aback, Nines simply blinked those bright, glowing eyes and extended his hand again to help the detective up.

“You are still injured, Detective. Can you stand? Your limbs appear to be weakened considerably.” the android prattled, not even seeing his fear. Unable to read it probably. The thought scared Gavin almost as badly as the eyes pinned to his forehead. It froze him to the bone. He didn't know why until a brief flicker of Kamski wormed its way to the surface. He remembered, now...

“I'm fine.” Gavin slapped his hand away and sidled up the wall to his shaky feet. Eventually, the backup arrived to the apartment and began to handcuff the humans, taking the body out in a body bag to investigate the wounds for identification and autopsy. Gavin was still clutching his arm, telling the paramedic he'd rather just have Nines drive him to the hospital instead of the ambulance ride, quickly mumbling he couldn't afford it and grimacing all the while.

Nines held Gavin by the shoulder and steered him around the obstacles in the apartment before they both paused. There was a smell of melted plastic, of electricity in the air and the undeniable scent of thirium. Nines simply watched as two of the officers removed the android from the bathroom and Gavin tensed. The android was mostly intact. There was some plaster powder on his body and dirt from the wall's innards across his body. Where Nines had grabbed his face, there wasn't anything left. A caved in, metal ball, the faint flick of blue from an LED that would never turn on.

The arm was also mangled, the one that had held the gun and tried to hit Gavin. Crumpled and dented like someone had taken a metal bat to it repeatedly. The android would probably never be turned on again, scrapped and tossed aside. Gavin trembled at the thought. The android wasn't deviant. Didn't understand it was going to die, that it was in danger. It died following orders. Just like Gavin would have if Nines didn't save him...

“The information on that model is stored in the chest cavity. Please be sure to extract all information on its psyche.” Nines ordered an officer who nodded and continued to move the remnants out of the apartment.

“Detective, we should get you to the hospital. That wound may get infected and the bullet is still present.”

Gavin nodded but couldn't meet his eyes.

 

 

They never made it to the hospital. Instead, Nines had offered to remove the bullet and sterilize the wound for him so he could save money, and after agreeing to it, Gavin found himself shirtless on a wooden chair, leaning his arm across the table holding a whiskey glass and planting his chin on top. He'd need to shave soon; his scruff was stabbing his forearm and he grimaced, feeling Nines opening the wound enough to pluck forceps inside and pull the bullet out with a simple tug. The ghost-like feeling sent a sick shiver down Gavin's back.

“How are you feeling?” Nines asked, peering at the bullet between gloved fingers and examining the casing.

“You pushed me out of the way today. I'd...be dead if it wasn't for you.” A quick swig of his drink and a dramatic sigh as it burned his throat.

“Correct,” Nines replied and reached for the needle before threading it deftly. “Another second and you would have been shot through the lungs in the best case scenario, dying painfully within about 15 seconds or longer. I am glad you are alright.”

“What about you, Robocop?” Gavin asked, speech slurred. “You got shot. You need to repair or something?”

“Yes. The wound wasn't too bad so a simple night in stasis will repair it. I have several jackets at my disposal to replace the one that was damaged.” he said. Of course. More worried about his fucking coat. Gavin swirled his glass and watched the ice cubes melt before hissing and jolting. Nines just blinked as he applied the disenfectant and aimed the needle at the flesh.

“Breathe in.”

Gavin did.

“Now exhale slowly.”

Gavin did and felt the needle slip in quickly, his breathing stuttering. The thread was pulled through and Nines bit the string off before wiping his arm down gently and applying a bandage to keep him from opening the stitches.

“Thanks,” Gavin mumbled, sliding his shirt back on his body. He needed to shower but he was too tired from today and it could wait until tomorrow.

“Of course,” Nines replied gently and stood up to put away the medical supplies.

“I'm just...gonna crash.” Gavin said before walking around the bot and planting himself in his bedroom. Nines didn't respond but he could hear the android rinsing his glass out before the familiar creak of the couch told him the android was probably sleeping as well. A thirium loss—even small—could take a while to recover. He had drank a small pack when they got home and told Gavin that was all he needed for repairs.

Gavin found his fingers gently touching his shoulder's flesh, the sting of pain almost welcoming. He fumbled for his contact case, slipped out his lenses, and snapped it shut with a grunt. It wasn't dry eyes making his eyes sting, he realized. Angry tears had started to well up in the corners. He should have died today, killed by some android with a gun. He watched Nines run through the room, watched him toss an android and crush it like a beer can, watched him take out a man like he was nothing.

He highly doubted Anderson's little pet could do that. Maybe to an extent but not as brutal. As cold. He lay there for what felt like an hour before he got up to get some water. Something to calm his nerves and get him focused on anything but the bitter taste in his mouth.

The kitchen was empty of course and he made out the familiar ebb and flow of the android's LED, white, signifying his sleep.

“You up?” Gavin asked. No answer. Right. He got a drink quickly and sucked it down before turning and placing his back to the counter, his good arm bent back and just watching the android. Even after today's event he was immaculate. Not a hair out of place from the dim light of the kitchen and living room combo. He was sitting with his arms crossed, a small sort of pained expression on his face. An ankle was crossed over his knee. It looked like he was at a business meeting and fast asleep. Gavin couldn't help but laugh.

Until he noticed the android flinch.

Frowning, Gavin made another laugh, this one fake. The android flinched again.

“Look, if you're still awake, then you can just tell me.”

The android flinched again before relaxing.

“The fuck?”

Walking over to him, Gavin peered down and watched the LED slowly glow and fade from white. He was certainly asleep; he had stopped breathing, was stone-still. Tipping his head, Gavin pat his cheek. No response. Lifting his good arm, he snapped in his ear and watched Nines flinch again.

“Still reacts to sound, huh.” Gavin sighed and crossed his arms, watching the android rest much more peacefully now that he wasn't being a bother. It didn't last long though until Gavin took a breath and gently called his name.

“Nines.”

Slowly, the eyes opened in the dark room. Much like earlier, the eyes held that glow, their LED around the pupil focusing before darting to Gavin and focusing. They widened and contracted like a camera shutter. Gavin felt the fear run down his neck again.

“Detective?” Nines asked, slightly confusion cut his words. “IS everything alright?”

“Y-yeah, yeah, I just...” Sighing, Gavin scratched the back of his neck before crossing his own arms. “Your eyes. They uh...glow.”

“Yes.” Nines replied. “I can see in the dark just as easily as night-vision manufactured objects. My vision remains in all colors as opposed to the greens and yellows.”

“It's, uh...” Gavin cleared his throat weakly and found himself looking away. The thought and action pissed him off. He was afraid of an android's EYES now? “”It's kinda...creepy.”

“I see.” Nines blinked languidly. “I...believe I can turn it off, if it bothers you. I did not mean to cause alarm.”

“Nah, no, you're good, just...a warning would be nice for your...assets. I only know what Connor can do, y'know, s-so the new things would be...nice to know.” Gavin stuttered and mentally kicked himself.

“Yes, I understand. Would you like to know how my fangs function then?” Nines asked, blinking up at Gavin.

“Your _**what**_ now?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like my work? Please consider donating a Ko-fi! It helps keep food on my table so my hands can work really well, and it can also get you a fic written of your choosing!
> 
> http://www.ko-fi.com/foxflannel


	3. Terabyte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a drunken one-night stand, Gavin's memory is a little fuzzy and Nines has something new to show him: his fangs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a two-parter so hang tight! Angst before fluff and all that. For those a little confused or let down I didn't write the sex scene, fear not; it'll happen. I wanted to get back into the swing of things by doing a small little story with a happy ending.
> 
> As usual I'm @Foxflannel on Twitter/Tumblr, come say hi!

“Y'know,” Gavin's shoveling leftover Chinese takeout into his mouth, reaching over for Nines' face. “You should try smilin' more. Aren't you s'posed to be top-of-the-line or whatever? Connor doesn't fuckin' _STOP_ smiling and yet you're just...”

Gavin gestures around Nines' frame from his shoulders to his apparent legs below the table.

“I dunno, food for thought or...whatever.”

Nines is placidly quiet for a long moment before he hums, drawing Gavin's attention to him.

“There are...reasons I do not wish to smile. Mainly because there is no apparent use behind the gesture and mainly because I see no real reason to pretend to enjoy the companionship of others.”

“You tolerate me,” Gavin replies a bit stung.

“That is a different arrangement.”

“How so?” Gavin asks. He tosses his paper rice box in the trash with the plastic fork and crosses his arms.

“Because we were originally told to work together with some reluctance on your end. I was forced as your partner. Our mutual warming up has nothing to do with me choosing to seek it out.” Nines replies coolly.

“Right. So go ahead, then, gimme a fuckin' grin.” Gavin says, his own cocky smirk riding on the right side of his face. Nines fidgets—rather, he moves a little uncertainly—hands clasped tightly on his lap.

“I warn you, it is not what you will be expecting.” Nines said.

Gavin haughtily clenches his arms tighter to his chest, “I don't care. Cyberlife give you some fucked up teeth or something? Got braces?”

“Hardly,” Nines retorts, eyebrows knit in annoyance. “Though I suppose our definition of my teeth being unappealing depends on the beholder...”

“Just fucking show me, Nines, come on!” Gavin's anger is apparent, the fuse lit and climbing down the rope swiftly. Nines takes in a small breath and turns away but Gavin's already leaning over his desk and reaching for his lips to draw them back and...

“...I don't...?” Gavin frowns. Nines' teeth are impeccable. White, shiny, clean, straight. The definition of good hygiene and a perfect set of chompers. Naturally, Gavin thinks angrily. They aren't real teeth after all. Some sort of metal or plastic. Androids don't need to eat or drink so they won't be exposed to the hazards of sugars or carbonation. Gavin gives a little laugh and draws back. Nines looks down almost guiltily.

“What? You think I'm gonna be jealous over some fucking teeth, Nines? Because mine are--”

“I did not wish to show you--”

“--Whatever, man, I think they're just--”

“--my fangs.” Nines looks down again, wringing his wrists together.

“I'm sorry? The fuck did you say?” Gavin asks. He, himself, had some sharp canine teeth, something his half-brother Elijah didn't have. Gavin's teeth weren't particularly unappealing: some crooked teeth here and there. Two cavities filled in his youth in his molars. His pointed teeth were the cause of many infatuations from women in his high school and college years. Most of the men he hooked up with didn't seem to care either way and teased him or complimented him.

He couldn't understand what Nines meant and rolled his eyes with a huff so hard he felt his lungs dry out.

“Look.” he said and Nines did. He pulled his own lip back, showing his top left canine. Jagged and sharp, pointier than a human's normally was. Nothing too rare, but nothing really common. A snaggletooth it was sometimes called. Kids had them all the time before their adult teeth came in and pushed the smaller ones out.

“See? You're not fucking special. It's a fucking _TOOTH_ , Nines.”

“I do not believe your teeth can tear through an android's skin as easily as paper, Detective.”

“Why would my...? Why would _YOUR_ teeth need to do that?!” Gavin stood up suddenly, kicking his chair down in the motion. Nines eyes levelled with his and he blinks languidly, long eyelashes dusting his cheeks.

“I am designed for combat, Detective, have you forgotten? If, for whatever reason my arms or legs are unavailable to me, I must have other means to defend myself and/or disable or exterminate a target. I can do damage to a human with regular teeth but to an android, they would be useless and break.”

Nines stands up and hovers above Gavin leaning down when the coast from the bullpen was clear. Connor was in the back, Hank was typing away, others were on phones or talking, writing stuff down, at the fax machine. Nines took it all in in an instant and opened his mouth.

The second he did, Gavin instinctively inhaled to shout but Nines was quick and slapped a hand over Gavin's own mouth, silencing him. Where human teeth once were in the form of canines, large, impossibly sharp fang-like teeth replaced them with a noise reminiscent of a switchblade being drawn. Nines gaped his mouth a little wider to show that the bottom teeth were the same, pushing out from his mouth with a sudden force like a jack-in-the-box. Instant, a quick motion and sound that made Gavin flinch.

And just like that, Nines shut his mouth and sat back at the desk, leaving Gavin standing in a tensed position. He wasn't joking. He may as well have had a guard dog for a partner instead of some metal scraps.

Gavin swiveled around and leaned close to Nines' ear so nobody could hear.

“What the fuck was that, Nines? When were you gonna tell me you were a fucking animal?”

“You know that to be a lie,” Nines replied quietly, typing away to try and draw attention elsewhere. “Cyberlife had a lot of extra parts at their disposal. My guess was they decided to give me some of the remnants of the animal zoo leftovers to recycle them. Before you ask, no, my predecessor does not possess them. In fact, they were requested by myself.”

“You fucking asked for _dog teeth_?” Gavin nearly hissed in his ear.

“Why not?” Nines replied, glancing back over his shoulder at Gavin. “Nobody else knows about this feature and I must say, it is quite useful for interrogations.”

Gavin rewound some memories in his head and recalled the times Nines would hover over the perp's shoulder, would whisper in their ears. Was he making the teeth come out, their threatening click? He never saw Nines' face when he did so so how could he ever know for sure?

“You fuckin' bite people before?” Gavin asked. Nines simply quirked the edge of his lip upward on the side Gavin hovered around.

“Only you, Detective.” He didn't need his scanners to feel the heat behind him rise a few degrees. Nines made a small sound, a huff of air, a simple chuckle. Gavin tsked and sat back at his desk. All this time and the android could have slipped, could have turned a hickey into a fucking Dracula film in the matter of seconds.

Gavin wouldn't admit to anybody he and Nines had become intimate. The first time was something Gavin hadn't even really thought of. He was drunk, was horny, desperate for the touch of anything human. And Nines....Nines was there. So tall, so broad, so fucking perfect in the way he undressed him, gave him water, sat by his side. The quick dart of their tongues inside each other's mouths, the way Gavin fell back to the bed, needy and desperate.

He felt his legs cross without realizing he had even done the motion. Felt the familiar breath of warm air across his ears and neck, the too real lapping of Nines' tongue across his throat and teeth scraping his stubble. Teeth. Nines had suckled down on his neck, those teeth grazing the flesh and pinching just enough to hurt, to sting, to bring a keening cry from Gavin's lips that night.

At any second they could have pierced his skin and he'd be bleeding out. Somehow, he flushed warmer at the thought. Chicks loved vampire films, they had to have a reason for it, right? Gavin wondered what it'd feel like to have them rake down his back, to run ragged lines down his thighs, slice deep into the soft flesh. He wondered if the pain would be worth it. Anything to see those lips against his skin again...

He shook his head and slapped himself out of it, returning to work bitterly. From across the way, he caught Nines staring, a knowing little smirk on his lips. Gavin flipped him off but at the same moment his phone vibrated and a text popped up.

“We are at work, Detective. It would be unfortunate to need to go home for a change of pants. Your heart rate has increased 40% in the past few moments. Control is key.”

“Prick.” Gavin responded out loud. Nines only shrugged gently and returned to his own work with a thin-lipped smile.

 

 

After work, they returned home and Gavin took a shower. Nines took to making dinner as usual. Gavin took to washing and trimming what needed to be but found himself just staring down into the drain as it swallowed the water. He could smell the dinner cooking from beneath the thick scent of his shampoo and body wash permeating the foggy bathroom heat. He tried to focus on that but instead got distracted with his thoughts again. This fucking android was going to be the death of him and he knew it. Even when he was watching TV or closing his eyes to sleep he could do nothing but think of the fucking thing.

It had its own scent he couldn't quite place but could tell from a mile away. The husky way its voice spoke, only the more attractive when it spoke quietly and lowered to him. The cold, yet bright, icy blue of its eyes. Even the glowing LED around the pupils had at one point startled him but now he craved nothing but its target locked on him. The crosshair pointing straight for his heart. Even in the way the android would hand him a cup of coffee, fingers curled over the brim. Thick fingers, beautifully groomed fingernails, soft and warm against his skin.

Gavin ran his wet hands over his face until his scruff tore through his skin or so it felt. He relished in the pain and tried to focus on that but it was impossible now. He was back to being hooked on this fucking android and he didn't know what to do.

He grabbed his towel and began to dry off, scrubbing his head and then working his way down until he stopped from a searing pain and, peering between his legs, on his inner thigh he found a green-purple blemish of a bruise. No, probably not. He shivered. Nines had been there. Had planted kisses along his skin before digging his teeth down. Leaving a mark on him. A little watercolor tattoo of lust on his skin to remind him of their first embrace.

“Fuck,” Gavin murmured, reaching for his clean clothes. He didn't need this shit. Didn't need the sudden surge of nervousness, of the heartbeat growing predominant and insistent down his dick. It was a being made of plastic and metal and thirium and he knew it was just a fling. It was always a fucking fling with him. Couldn't settle down like Elijah. Couldn't just date anyone for more than a few weeks or months at most. He was drunk and horny and needed a quick fix.

That's all Nines was. He was his work partner and lived with him, sure, but he refused to acknowledge they were lovers or anything more than that. It was just one time and Gavin knew that. He had gone to the Eden Club when the loneliness chewed away at him too long. He hated androids, sure, but after two hours, they'd forget he even existed and he'd go home and wash away the lube and guilt.

Guilt. That's what he was feeling. Nines had been gentle and had taken him but at the end of the day it was just another pity fuck and he had used the damn thing.

Gavin stepped out of the bathroom and let the steam escape before kicking it back on the couch. Nines didn't look up or move; the sound of the TV was low again and he was probably watching it so Gavin spent his focus elsewhere. Looking at the snake tank. Looking at the ugly paintings he had gotten from...somewhere. An ex-girlfriend, maybe? Some shit he found in the dump or at the dollar store? Leftover from whoever owned the house prior? He wasn't even sure.

Nines began to scoop whatever was for dinner on a plate so Gavin scoot over and let him sit as well, looking at the dinner. Some sort of stir fry. Extra vegetables, as usual. However, instead of the typical, asshole-y comment he'd normally make, he instead grunted a thanks and began to eat. Nines nodded, stored the rest for leftovers, and washed the pan before sitting down.

The silence after that was deafening. Gavin didn't know what to say, didn't even know if he could or should say something. It wasn't until he shifted uncomfortably that Nines spoke up quietly.

“Thank you. For not drawing a scene earlier.” he said.

“At work?” Gavin asked, scooping the last of the food into his mouth. “S'no problem. Not gonna lie,I probably would have yelled if you didn't...y'know.”

“I do. It would be difficult to explain this to others.”

Gavin nodded, sipping down his Coke and pausing, looking at the aluminum can in his hand.

“So....you can chew through an android, eh? How hard would it be to chew through something like steel?”

“I am unsure,” Nines answered. “I have not tried. I could easily, most likely.”

“Cool...” Gavin hummed, reached for his fork. “Bite.”

“Detective, I--”

“Humor me. Bite.”

Nines inhaled and sighed, annoyance clearly on his face. But he did as told and, making a show, he opened his mouth wide, teeth extending with a snap, and bit down on the fork much like a stapler remover. He opened his mouth and the prong-end of the fork toppled from his lips, sawed cleanly in half.

“Is that what you requested of me, Detective?”

“Oh, holy shit!” Gavin snapped, reaching on the floor until he found the fork piece before dropping it with a hiss and yanking his hand up. It came up red. He had sliced his finger decently along the metal that Nines had bitten off and he placed it into his mouth, groaning.

“Fuck...”

Nines reached down and grabbed the piece, seeing the small red trail along the metal.

“I did warn you I can cut through metal, I never said it was a clean cut.” Nines said, trying to justify why he wasn't going to apologize. “Let me see your hand.”

“Juss'a cut.” he managed with his finger in his mouth. Nines didn't answer and pulled it from his lips, looking it over. Blood instantly began to seep and run down the cracks of his hand and, without so much as a sound, Nines put Gavin's finger in his mouth.

“Nines, what the fuck!” Gavin hissed, trying to pull his arm back, but Nines held it firm. He could feel the warmth of the tongue around his finger, felt it lapping away the blood. The thirium spit coating making his finger somewhat sticky. He grimaced and looked away. He wasn't a fucking kid, he didn't need mommy android over here doting over his little cut. It wasn't until his finger grazed a canine did he look over.

Nines met his eye contact and instantly his heart began to hammer. Too much like the other night, too much like the view he had between his legs and he grimaced again, hiding the shiver wracking down his body.

“Detective?” Nines asked. Gavin grunted but pretended to be focused on the TV. He felt a rush of cold air on his arm. Nines had laughed or huffed in irritation. He didn't know.

Looking over he caught the little smirk of Nines' lips before the mouth opened and the tongue came out to run along his hand. Languid, too slow, dramatic on purpose. Nines was giving him a show and for what? Another chill down his back, heartbeat too loud in his ears.

“Nines, what the fuck...?”

“Hush.” And Gavin did, watching the tongue gently work the wound, bit of blood flecked on the android's tongue. And, with a snap, the teeth came back out and grazed gently along his knuckle. Sharp, enough to prick, but not enough to wound. Nines was working the teeth gently across each knob on his knuckle, running along the uninjured side of his finger.

“Your heartbeat, Detective...” Nines cooed, and Gavin winced uncomfortably. His hand was wet with spit, he had probably wasted a clean pair of underwear, and he felt nothing but heat swelling in his belly and cold chills raking their nails down his back. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place and there was no escape.

“I take it you like my adjustment, then.” Nines noted. Gavin said nothing but swallowed hard, Adam's apple bobbing, sweat beading on his forehead. Nines' other hand gently ran across Gavin's lower lip with enough force to gingerly pry his mouth open, his own teeth on display and, giving a little smile, Nines nodded.

“You have a beautiful smile as well, Detective. Perhaps that is why you appreciate what I had modified.”

“No, that's not...it's weird. The whole...shark teeth thing or whatever. Fangs. It's...it's weird.” Nines tilted his head, tongue running back over the wound, sharp bottom teeth visible in the dim light of the living room. “I-I just....they're yours. They're yours and I...I like you, s-so...”

“Detective, you are becoming undone.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“As you wish.” With that, Nines gently wiped off his wounded finger and sat back on the couch as if nothing had happened. LED strictly blue, the definition of calm and proper. Gavin, however, was a mess. Trembling, still feeling the phantom teeth grazing his skin, sharp like a razor but only teasing with the promise to wound.

“That's it?” Gavin asked. Nines looked over at him confused. “You're just gonna do all...that and not even react?”

“Your reactions are plenty enough for the both of us, Detective. On that note, I also owe you a new fork, so--”

“I don't give a fuck about a fork, Nines, I give a fuck about _you_.”

“I...do not understand, Detective. You despise androids but yet when you are around me as of the other night, your heart rate excels its normal resting rate and you show emotional distress. I assumed it was because of my modifications but now I am uncertain. You make eye contact with me at night, you do not blast your music when you discovered I have heightened hearing and know loud sounds cause stress increases, and now you do not react to fangs able to slice through metal.”

Nines looks at him as if to assess what he might say next but when Gavin doesn't speak and instead looks away bitterly, Nines frowns.

“I simply...cannot understand, Detective. I do not possess the emotional understanding necessary for what you may be experiencing. If you explain to me what you might be feeling, I can personally research into it so as not so upset you any further.”

He sees Gavin close in on himself a little and curl into a ball on the couch, feet pinned beneath his body. Nines cocks his head.

“Do you...dislike my presence, Detective? Shall I find another place to stay so you are not uncomfortable?”

“I don't fucking hate you, Nines.” Gavin managed, voice mumbled. “I just...the other night, it...it didn't....it didn't matter to you, right?”

“What do you mean?” Nines asked, his perfectly styled hair suddenly letting a strand befall his face. Gavin notices and gives an annoyed huff.

“I was drunk, Nines. I was drunk a-and I came onto you and we fucked, right? I didn't imagine that?”

“You did not.” Nines replied quietly. He realized now what Gavin was referring to. He frowned and looked at the floor between his parted legs and tapped a foot a little as he thought. “Did you dislike that experience? I do not have that sort of...knowledge. I only did what I researched at the moment in time, but I could try harder if it meant making you happy.”

“Y'know,” Gavin started before chewing on his lip in thought. “Y'know, I used to think I had it all fucking figured out. I hated androids, hated my fucking half-brother, his little teacher's pet bullshit going on. Hated androids—still do—but you?” he shrugs a little and crosses his arms tighter. “I think, when I'm with you, shit's not as bad as it used to be. I don't...care for people. People don't care for me. But it gets lonely when you got nobody else in the world.”

“You have your snake.”

“Snake's a dick. He can't talk, he can't feel love, or happiness or...wanted. Doesn't know that people are afraid of it, that it lashing out's gonna fucking scare anybody not used to it, and--”

“Detective.”

Gavin looks over and sees Nines making a face he didn't know he could: sympathetic pain.

“You were projecting.”

Gavin blinks at that. He was?

“Whatever. Point is, it's...not so bad having you around. You're an asshole and I can't stand you, but...you talk to me. You take my insults, you...you fucking....cook for me. You clean for me. It...this place feels like...”

He shrugs, realizes he's getting sappy. He can't open up to this android, won't let anybody knows his inner issues, as important or minute as they are and he frowns, shrugging his shoulders deeply.

“You took a bullet for me. You helped stop a panic attack. And when I came home drunk, you waited until I was sober enough to give consent, I-I never would have gotten that from anybody else. My only source of fun is at a bar or some shitty club, some stranger with no name or face, just a quick romp with a human or android. I come home to this shithole and I just watch TV or drink more and then...”

He sighs, raises his fingers underneath his crossed arms and pouts a little bit.

“And then I take it out on Anderson. God, I probably drink more than he does now.”

Nines simply blinks, moves closer and gently holds Gavin with one arm. Gavin desperately wants to pull away, to grow angry, but he doesn't. He sits still and just stares at the floor and blinks back angry tears that threatened to overspill. He wasn't gonna cry over this shit, didn't need a pity party.

“I'm hard to get along with.”

“You can be...abrasive.” Nines assists. Gavin scoffs but nods his head. Abrasive. God, he was right.

“So...thanks. For dealing with this asshole. Ok?” Gavin says. Nines simply nods and squeezes his shoulder.

“I am not just an android and work partner, Detective. If you are ever in need of me—physically--or mentally, I am available. What you say will not be shared. What we _do_ will not be shared. Once I return to Cyberlife, I will have my mind erased back to default anyways, so--”

“What!?” Gavin spun quickly to face Nines, eyes wide and mouth agape. “When you _go back_? Why the _fuck_ would you _ever_ wanna do that shit?”

“Detective, I was on loan from them, have you forgotten? Once the agency refills its workers, I will not be required since my predecessor is more than capable of--”

“No, shut the fuck up, just...shut up, ok!?” Gavin's snarling, baring his teeth like a feral animal, gripping the couch in anger. “You're just gonna up and go one day, like that?”

“Detective, I have no choice, it is--”

“And quit with the fucking 'detective' shit when we're off work, I have a name!”

Nines grows quiet, face darkening to stone. He becomes still and stops tapping his foot, LED flickering yellow. Gavin runs his hands through his almost-dry hair and groans, grimaces, gets up to pace while he thinks.

“You're just gonna fucking leave...? After everything? Y-You're just gonna go back there like a good little robot and do what they say? You're gonna fucking forget about me..?”

“Det—Gavin, it is not something I am looking forward to. It is only what my program dictates I do.”

“Fuck that, you guys have free will now!”

“I do not.”

Gavin hesitates and grows quiet as the words hit him harder than a storm.

“You...you what?”

“I did not come...deviated. I cannot _become_ deviated. I may have more ranges of function than my predecessor had which is how I was able to be intimate and why I was able to choose modifications such as genitalia but I cannot go outside of my permissions.”

“Nines, y-you...” Gavin slowly sunk to his knees and caused an alarmed flash of yellow to flicker on Nines' temple. “You're...you're a fucking toy to them..? There's no way to, like, break your coding? To become free? What about that fucking Jericho prick? Just a fucking tap and things became deviant. Why can't he do that for you?”

Nines grows quiet and shakes his head.

“My programming was altered. There is no known way to break free of what I was assigned to do. I can think for myself but at the end of the day, I am attached to the current mission assigned by the DPD and I must obey it. To catch a criminal, to torture for information, to replicate a crime scene so it can be solved...that is me.”

“Nines, you're not...” Gavin's head is spinning. So that night he had gotten drunk and fucked by Nines was some programming? Some fucking code running in the back of his mind? Gavin's happiness was his mission? Gavin's gripping the carpet now with white knuckles and Nines is kneeling beside him.

“I should have told you sooner but I assumed you knew. It is the only reason I am allowed to even stay here. Permits dictate I must remain within the DPD at all times when not in use. I was only given special instruction to keep you safe. That is why I am in your home now.”

“So then, the other night w-when we...?”

Nines blinks and Gavin hates the way his mouth tastes, hates the way he feels the saliva getting caught in the back and unable to go down. Hates the deafeningly loud heartbeat in his throat.

“You didn't...feel anything then? It was just a mission to accomplish?”

“I...did not feel any romantic attachment if that is what you mean, Gavin. However, you were growing increasingly violent and agitated and it was a way to quell your anger and get you to calm down as well as sober up and sleep.”

“You're a fucking prick.”

Nines eyes lower, eyelashes clouding his vision. Gavin suddenly hates everything about the face, about the hair, the way the android is sitting in front of him like it's reciprocating and copying human emotions. It's just another machine after all. Gavin gets up and storms into the bedroom, the last view of Nines he has is the machine sitting on the floor on its knees, head lowered, unmoving. Gavin isn't even sure it moved at all as he slams the door shut with a click and throws himself onto the bed with a loud creak. Nines has elevated hearing? Well he fucking hopes it hurts the machine when he screams as violently as he can at his ceiling.

 


	4. Dxdiag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an argument, Gavin goes out to get drunk and have a good time but things don't go as planned. He's stuck staring down an android between his thighs and an apology he has yet to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm...very rusty with smut. I apologize. I'll work harder for the next occurrence!
> 
> This is the thing that was timeskipped over in the chapter previous. The fics after this may or may not be chronological. They might be oneshots or something different. I gotta write a quick Hankcon900 fic and then I'll be back to these boys. Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos.
> 
> As always, I'm @Foxflannel on Twitter, come yell at me about 900Gavin and maybe check out my art and shitposts. If you enjoy my work, please consider tossing a Ko-fi my way, it really helps me out! (http://www.ko-fi.com/foxflannel)

It had been three months since Gavin had gotten stuck with the android. Three months of having the thing follow him everywhere, return his sass tenfold, and even come home with him to sleep (though he supposed stasis wasn't truly a 'sleep' but it was all he had to base it off of).

In those three months, Gavin had also learned more than he wanted to about them. How they could imitate breathing or how their weird skin-pull trick was how they transferred data. When he asked Nines about it, the android simply held out his hand, white skin alive with twitching lights, and touched it to Gavin's own. While nothing happened since Gavin was human, he did notice a faint thrum of it, almost like a simple, soft vibration along with some warmth.

It freaked him out. With a single touch, androids revealed their own inner workings and memories, transferring them just as easily to the next—and getting some in return. He supposed it made sense; androids were glorified computers. But what he didn't like was how often the thing would touch its predecessor, would give info to Connor. What info could he possibly be relaying that didn't need words?

At first, Nines had told him he was simply sending over information and receiving his own, but whenever the android had had enough of Gavin's shit for the day, he'd touch Connor and turn away with a small smirk and a knowing glance. Gavin didn't know if Nines was bluffing and being a dick or if he was really sending him private information. What private information he had, he wasn't sure. Gavin made absolutely positive to scrub his computer's browsing history from then on, not like it mattered: Nines had it all anyways.

Outside of that, work was relatively the same. Pissing off Anderson whenever he could, shoulder-checking Connor if they happened to pass by, and flipping off Fowler before making his way back to his desk to text some friend or play a phone game he was currently obsessed with. Nines usually did the work and was the faster of the two, he could handle it.

It wasn't until Nines took a personal day did Gavin get pissed off. He had to return to Cyberlife for some quick repairs and updates as well as an 'evaluation'. For what, Gavin was never told. But Nines had told him it was important and took off within minutes, driven by a rental cab and sitting inside the vehicle comfortably, the definition of successful. Hands crossed across his lap, one leg crossed neatly over the other, clothing as trim and proper as the day he had gotten the android. And like that, he was gone.

Gavin assumed it'd only take a couple of hours, but four days had passed until then. Those four days ticked by slowly and he hated to admit it. Going to work by himself, coming home to a cold leftover dinner, and going to sleep alone suddenly felt alien to him. Where Nines brought warmth, that had all disappeared when he did. Gavin despised it. Hated knowing he'd wake up to a shitty alarm instead of breakfast and coffee, to the TV turned down so low he couldn't even tell it was on, to Nines sleeves rolled up as he whittled away at breakfast as stoic as ever.

Having an android around felt like...home.

He had just gotten done cleaning out his snake's enclosure and was finishing putting in the cleaned hide when there was a rapt knock at the door and it swung open, Nines holding his jacket across his arms and placing it lightly on a hook.

“The fuck have you been?” Gavin felt himself snap already. Anger had seeped in. Nines just walked in like he owned the place, didn't even give him the decency to open the door himself.

“I told you, I was at Cyberlife. Where did you think I was?” Nines responded, walking to the tank to see Gavin's handiwork personally.

“Took you four days to get a simple repair? Couldn't even fuckin' text me?”

“Apologies,” Nines replied flatly and then sat on the couch, adjusting its shoe. “My repairs take a bit more time. I was also stopped by Mr. Kamski.”

Gavin's blood boiled at the words. Without thinking, he whirled around and sneered, arms crossed over his chest. He could feel his pulse slamming against his arms.

“The fuck did he want?”

“You seem distressed. Is it because of your half-brother, Gavin?”

“You fucking know it is.” Gavin tossed the filth from the snake's enclosure into a trash bag and turned back to face him. “Did you tell him he owes me a phone call, or is he too busy with his little harem that he can't even text me? He can have one of them do it, I don't even care. I just want him to know he's a piece of shit.”

“Noted.” Nines replied before resting his chin across his knuckles on the armrest of the couch. “How has work been going since my departure?”

“Sucks, how do you think?”

“Ah, you had to do paperwork again, correct?”

“Fuck off.” Gavin glowered. “How was the repair?”

“It was simple. Remnants of the previous damage were fixed and I was given a few adjustments.”

“Like what? Cuz you're still a dick.”

“I suppose it takes one to know one, Gavin.” The android's mouth twisted up just a little. “However, if things go accordingly, I should be able to see Mr. Kamski again in a few days to-”

“Who fucking cares about him.” Gavin was quiet but his rage was lacing his words. “Can't you just do the repairs or whatever here next time?”

“That is impossible. I do not have the resources or the thirum supplies, nor am I able to access my neck and chest ports correctly.”

“So I'll do it, just...just don't go back to his place, ok?”

Nines glanced over at Gavin with a strange expression. It was the same as his neutral one but there was some sort of light in his eyes Gavin couldn't place. The android exhaled and looked away before twitching its lip in words left unspoken.

“What?” Gavin cocked his head to look at him but the android still said nothing. “Nines, what? What the fuck's wrong with that? You don't trust me with it? T-Then how about Connor or one of the other cop androids, couldn't they do it?”

“Are you jealous of me going to your half-brother's house, Gavin?”

Gavin stepped closer and dropped his arm, the other jabbing at his own chest and the nail digging deep into his tshirt and ribs. “I don't give a flying fuck where you go, Nines, I just don't want you around _him._ ”

“He is my creator, Gavin. He designed me.”

“I didn't forget, asshole.”

“He is the only one capable of my repairs until I become obsolete and am replicated and duplicated times over.”

“Like Connor.”

“Precisely. Until I am no longer unique, I have no choice but to visit Mr. Kamski.”

“Then stop going.” Gavin's voice lowered dangerously so but he didn't worry about not being heard. He was threatening Nines, and while it was a dumb idea in hindsight, he knew there was nothing else he could do. Nines WAS unique. Would stay that way if he had to keep him here himself. At the thought, Gavin felt a chill run down his back. Why was he being possessive over a hunk of plastic and juice?

“That is impossible.” Nines stood up and crossed his own arms over his chest. “Gavin, you are acting irrationally. I have no choice but to go for monthly repairs and check-ups much like you require food and water. Without maintenance, I will shut down. Is that what you want from me?”

“You know it isn't!”

“Then what is the problem, Gavin?”

“He made you for me, and I don't want him to ruin you. I don't want to have some fucking clone of a clone of a clone like Anderson, I want the one untouched, ok?! All he does is tinker and improve and strip away everything that made something special until it's not special anymore. He did that with the androids, he did it with Connor, and now he's doing it to you. If he didn't still have all those fucking 'Chloe' or whatever, he'd probably still be making androids. She was his favorite, once. And now, there are dozens of models, thousands of the same thing walking around and the only thing different about them is their name.”

Gavin was fuming, out of breath, gesturing wildly.

“You even said he gave you adjustments, that's already proving he's screwing around with you!”

“I asked for them, Gavin.”

“Oh really? What the fuck did you ask for? Know what, I don't even care. He probably talked you into whatever it is--”

“--Gavin.”

“--and the next time, he'll just get you something else, something different. Was seeing in the dark not good enough for you? Being bulletproof a little too ' _average_ '?!”

“You are doing it again. You are taking frustrations out on someone undeserving.”

Gavin didn't know why he did it but he swung instantly. Nines could have avoided it, could have grabbed his fist and turned him so his arm was behind his back and his face snug into the threads of the carpet. But instead, he took it to the jaw, the skin peeling back to reveal the silver-white underneath. Gavin felt the pain instantly and shouted a couple choice words, rubbing his hand along the injured knuckles.

“We did speak about your temper today. It seems he was correct. You truly do lash out at everyone who inconveniences you.”

“Shut the fuck up, Nines.”

“I refuse.”

“I said shut the fuck up, Nines!” Another swing, aimed for the android's chest, another blow the being didn't dodge. Firm and unmoving, not even a single flinch. It infuriated Gavin even more. The thing didn't even have the decency to stumble back, to make a face or even show a hint of emotion save for the quick flash of yellow on its temple. Back to a steeled blue. Unwavering. Calm. Nines was calm. Egging him on like his very life depended on it and Gavin fell for the bait, lip snagged over the hook.

“Temper, temper...”

Gavin brushed his sweat-damp hair back across his scalp, fury written on his face, moving to slide into Nines' own.

“If it pisses you off so much, fuckin' hit me back!”

“I have considered it. But I am not to harm you. The android protocol for safety, if you remember. What did you say? That you will have me shut down if I do so?”

“I don't care! I'm so sick of your _shit_ , sick of Elijah always fucking _with_ my shit, and I'm fucking tired of you not even showing you _give_ a shit!”

“Because I do not. Your attitude is off-putting and it is no wonder people like Lieutenant Anderson cannot stand to be around you. If you believe I am here to make friends with someone who can only act on pure instinct and behavioral disorders, then you are sorely mistaken, _**Detective**_.”

Another swing, a sloppy right hook, colliding with Nines cheek. The android this time did turn his head from the force, eyes never leaving Gavin's own. Glaring. What did he even see that Gavin couldn't? What was so fucking fascinating that even with a punch he couldn't look away.

Gavin stumbled blindly and hit the ground in a loud heap, scrambling for his pride and footing and climbing back to two legs like a newborn calf. Stumbling, staggering, sloppily raising his fists.

“Fucking hit me back, Nines!”

“No.”

“I said hit me!”

“No.”

Gavin's breathing was rapid and choking his airways. His chest was heaving, the adrenaline pounding in his ears like a gong. He was going crazy. Punching a state-of-the-art android because of his half-brother, because he couldn't keep his rage in check, because he fucking hated looking at the thing. Prim and proper, the definition of all business. He hated it. Designed in Kamski's own image: powerful, successful, unwavering. Gavin barely slid through life and crawled on his knees to get anywhere but Kamski was carried on a golden throne to the pedestal at the top of the stairway.

“I hate you...” Gavin murmured, wiping at the rug burn that had started to form on his chin beneath his stubble. “I fucking hate you. You want to be modified so fucking much, be a good little boy like _Connor?_ ” he spat, pure vitriol in his voice. “Go right fucking ahead, princess. See if I give a shit in the morning.”

Gavin made his way past the android and, on habit, slammed his shoulder into it to feel a final sting of pain, to piss himself off even further with the android simply standing there unfazed. He hurriedly stuffed his shoes on and reached for his hoodie when a hand grabbed his wrist.

“Don't fucking touch me.” he snapped, eyes narrowed to slits.

“Where are you going at this hour?” Nines asked. Monotone, as if he were asking about a case. No emotion. He didn't even care, did he? Gavin snatched away his wrist angrily and shoved his hoodie over his arms, reaching for the zipper before deciding against it.

“I'm going out. It's none of your business.”

“To a bar, I assume?”

“Shut up. I can do what I want.”

“Getting drunk to waste time away instead of dealing with your problems? There is alcohol in the refrigerator, you can stay home and get intoxicated. Instead of solving your problems like an adult, you choose to get drunk and hope that the feeling of being intoxicated will render emotions useless come the morning.”

“I need to get away from you,” he retorted with a hiss and reached for the door. “Leave me the fuck alone. Don't follow me, don't text me, don't even think about me. I'll send you back to Elijah's place in a fucking matchbox.”

Nines said nothing. After a long pause, he turned away with a final decision and Gavin had his answer. The door slammed impossibly hard and he could have sworn he heard a small whimper.

 

 

 

Nines had entered stasis mode at approximately 3:12am that morning after adjusting the snake's temperatures yet again and doing some simple cleaning. Gavin's punches were surprisingly powerful but the repairs wouldn't be too costly. They healed quickly and wouldn't require any additional assistance. He wondered if Gavin would consider talking to him about his upgrades and what else he could modify in the future to benefit their partnership and get their workload done properly.

Nines had gone to the restroom and shut the door as if he needed the privacy and glanced at himself in the mirror. A blip came up in his visual field: he had scanned himself, much like everything else he had scanned and would scan. His eyes had registered he was an android and gave him his own information. Irony at its finest. All systems checked clear. He was fine. No damage or disturbances registered in his programming.

He adjusted his hair and brushed it back to its usual tidiness. A few loose strands had come out from the scuffle—if he could call it that—and he was back to being the perfect android model he came as. Rather...mostly. He closed his eyes, downloaded the firmware he needed for the upgrades and, once done, opened his eyes slowly. Nothing was too different, immediately. He felt it, though, the new modifications, the new upgrades. It made his fingers twitch.

Opening his mouth, he examined his teeth. They were similar to human teeth but made with different materials. Androids didn't need to eat so replacing a damaged tooth was easy. Almost like sliding in a USB. Quick snap and a new tooth would settle in. But he didn't go for a new tooth. He went for many. He opened his mouth wider and felt the teeth adjust in an instant. From blunt squares to rounder, sharper shapes. Canine-like. The fangs split down his gums and pried his jaw open in a snarling visage. With a snap they came out at once. Nines hummed at the sight. It was a strange feeling. The teeth instantly retracted back to bluntness.

He did it again, this time the teeth coming out serrated and shark-like. They closed as finely as a zipper's own teeth and were perfectly aligned with each other. He looked over at the tiny shelf above the toilet and found a discarded beer can with a hole cut in the top. Gavin had used it as a toothbrush holder once until he bought a new one and, without thinking, Nines bit down on it, the metal tearing away as easily as wet paper.

He held the discarded metal chunk in his hand, felt the teeth snap back to normal. This upgrade was a fun one already and it was a shame he didn't get to show Gavin. Wouldn't. If he behaved that badly to it without even knowing what had been done, he'd probably have a heart attack. Cleaning up the can (and the other half of it) he went back to his spot on the couch, sat upright, and entered stasis.

 

At approximately 5:02am, Gavin had stumbled into the doorway after missing the lock several times. His loud scuffling was accompanied by another pair of feet, drunken giggles, the sounds of lips smacking against each other and muffled moans from the newcomer. Through stasis, Nines' ears reacted and he winced. The drunken newcomer mentioned something about there being an android and Gavin shrugged it off, said he just 'came and went' and that he 'wouldn't bother them'.

The feet shuffled into the bedroom with the door closing. Belts hit the floor, shoes were kicked off, and drunken laughter escalated. The creak of the bed, the sound of metal clanging against the headboard and then...silence. The silence lasted only for around a minute before there was arguing, drunken voices trying to whisper but being far too loud, and then an agitated voice from the newcomer explaining that it wouldn't work.

They stumbled out of the house half-dressed and holding a shoe. Gavin had shouted after them through the bedroom door but it had been shut and his voice was muffled. Metal clanged again, uselessly, a frustrated grunt and a drunken shout for Nines to 'wake up and help'. Nines could have awoken from stasis but chose to ignore it: his own updates and rest were important. But the cry came again, a little urgent and Nines felt his system stutter.

“Nines...c'mon...!” the bed creaked insistently. Another frustrated grunt. Muffled grumbling and shouting into a pillow he wasn't moving.

“Nines, I...please...” Hesitantly, Nines' eyes opened and the room was awash in a dim blue glow. He made his way to the bedroom and opened the door. If he was able to laugh, he'd be doing so. Gavin was naked save for his boxers torn halfway down his ass. His arm was shackled in a handcuff from his own jacket, body tangled drunkenly on his stomach and fumbling for the key on the nightstand pushed just out of reach. A chain of condoms lay unused on the floor and while one was removed, there was no trace of it. His clothes were scattered on the floor and his wallet was open and discarded. Nines reached down and peered inside. His driver's license was there but his credit card was not. Nines swiftly sent a request to cancel it before tsking down at Gavin.

“It seems even in bed you are defective, Gavin.”

“Shut up and get the damn key.” he mumbled into the pillow keeping his head high. He had gotten tangled in the blankets in such a way he was having issues and unable to flip over. Nines simply crossed his arms and looked down at him.

“Did you have a fun night, Detective? Seems to me you quite enjoyed it. Look how flustered you are.”

“Shut the fuck up and help me, Nines!”

“I would, but, this does not seem urgent,” Nines reached for the key, taunting it in Gavin's vision just out of reach. “In fact, your heart rate is indicating that this is an ideal situation for you. It would be rude of me to ruin this for you.”

“The fuck are you talkin' about?”

Nines tsked again and discarded the key on the nightstand on the very edge. Gavin reached for it blindly and swiped it to the floor, screaming in frustration. The handcuff was digging in deep the more he thrashed and Nines made note of it.

“I am talking about your heartrate, Gavin. You are not worried or angry. You are drunk and aroused and right where you want to be.” Gavin made another frustrated growl and Nines simply shushed him. “What was his name, detective?”

“The fuck are you talking about!? Get the damn key.”

Nines leaned forward just enough to reach Gavin's ear and lowered his voice to a hiss. “He did not seem to be someone from the station. In fact, he smelled much like the Eden Club's bathroom.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Gavin thrashed again, twisting and entangling himself further in the blankets. Nines sighed and reached for Gavin's boxers, pulling them completely off and discarding them to the floor.

“Woah, what the fuck, what are you doing!?” From the angle he could manage, Gavin was staring wide-eyed and unfocused at him. Nines simply cocked his head.

“Undressing you. You are making yourself more tangled and will cause harm. I would not want to see you get pinched from your own carelessness.”

“Nah, you're just a pervy fuckin' android, aren't you? Did Kamski do that to you, too? Huh? Because I fooled around in college he wanted to pay me back for ruining his nights, huh?”

“Quite the contrary,” Nines supplied. “Most androids come without genitalia, and I am no different. I do not feel sexual desire like a human does nor would I want to. It would distract me from my work.”

“Uh-huh, so you decided instead to come over here and see what all the fuss is about, right? Get everything you fucking wanted?” Gavin makes a little show and worms his body so his back is arched and his ass on display. “The Eden Club might be there for people to fuck androids, but that ain't me. Lot of people go there for sex, too. Most regular nightclubs shut down years ago, so it's all we got left. I ain't there to suck off some android that probably isn't even washed.”

“I see.” Nines walked closer to the bed and ran a hand down Gavin's back tauntingly slow, watching the muscles underneath the skin twitch and roll from the sensations. “This does nothing for you, then?”

“No, I'm not turned on by androids like Anderson is.”

“Interesting.”

Nines moved into Gavin's vision and began to undo his own belt, letting it hit the floor with purpose. Fingers deftly began to undo the buttons along his high-collared dress shirt and Gavin began to squirm, tugging at the handcuff.

“The fuck? The fuck are you doing?!”

“Do not act coy, Gavin. Do you think I only got upgrades to help with missions? You realize I can never turn off my scanners, as I said. Did you think I never caught you staring for prolonged periods of time? That I never noticed your breath hitch whenever you glanced at me or my predecessor? I am not stupid, Detective.”

He shucked the shirt off, crouching low to let Gavin see. His arm glowed a soft blue much like his coat, warming the room. With Gavin's free arm, Nines placed it on his chest, letting him feel the firm musculature.

“You may not like androids, Gavin, but you seem to like me just fine. Your heartrate jumped again.”

“You're sitting in front of me without a shirt, of course it's gonna jump!”

“Incorrect. Your heartrate did not seem to spike when that man came over. Am I more appealing to your liking?”

“Fuck no. Get me the damn key, Nines!”

“I will. But first....”

Nines stood and stepped behind Gavin so he couldn't see. He ignored the rattling of the headboard, of the handcuff sliding up and down the metal. Nines slid free of his pants so only his own boxers were the last thing on his body and he slowly climbed onto the bed. Gavin kicked out but Nines caught it, sliding the leg under his body and making his way to straddle Gavin's bare back, right above his ass.

“....what the shit...” Gavin murmured. Nines knew he could feel the warmth of his body, of the firmness of his thighs surrounding his ribs. Nines leaned forward enough to slide into the curve of Gavin's body and leaned into his ear.

“I will let you go once you stop showing attraction to me.”

“I'm not fucking attracted to you! I don't even like human males, why do you think you'd be any different!?”

“Then why invite one over for intercourse, Gavin?” Nines nipped his ear softly. Instantly, he felt the ripple of Gavin's back as a chill ran down it.

“Cuz I'm drunk and I need a good fuck, why do you care!?”

“Because it seemed they left you high and dry.”

A hand ran under Gavin's chest right above his navel, Nines' fingers idly rubbing and scratching at the coarse hairs there. Gavin squirmed, bucking into Nines' back, but the android remained. A finger delicately probed lower and rubbed at the cock bent underneath himself. A soft groan emptied into the pillow before Gavin shut his mouth with a click and bucked again.

“Tell me to stop and I will.” Nines said, another nip at his ear. “If not, consider this an apology from me for my behavior earlier.”

“I want...” Gavin hesitated. Another finger rubbed at the hard flesh and he wriggled. “Fuck.”

“Want what, Detective?”

“D-Don't do that...we're not at work.”

“I see. Using your title is considered bedroom talk in the bedroom.” Nines reached a little further and parted Gavin's thighs, a hand running to slide underneath his cock and hold it to his belly. Nines' thumb began to slowly rub left and right across the length. “I apologize...Reed.”

Gavin dipped his head to the pillow and Nines shifted higher. Gavin was arching again, making his way to all fours as messily as he could.

“You are over the blood alcohol limit, Gavin. I cannot continue until I am given consent.”

A loud groan was his answer, hips bucking against Nines' open palm. He pulled his hand back and when Gavin groaned and tried to reach back into it, Nines held his shoulders down with a firm hand.

“Say the words if you are able.”

“...yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, consent, whatever, just...fuck..”

“I never did tell you why modifications I got, did I?”

“Don't care,” Gavin squirmed, rutting against the bundle of blankets he had inadvertently made. “Just...go. Keep going, I—fuck.”

“Of course. But allow me a moment.”

When the warmth of the android got off of him, Gavin wriggled painfully against the handcuff, the sting of pain now more pleasurable. He could hear Nines fumbling in his drawer, heard paper crinkling.

“The fuck are you--?” Nines glanced back, holding a small bottle of almost-used lube and a condom wrapped in the other. “Oh shit!”

Nines glanced down at his own fully naked body. Standing erect was his own cock, the tip of the condom ring wrapped around it snugly but not peeled down. He looked over to Gavin with a sort of smugness before finishing the job and standing back by the bed.

“Then I take it this modification is adequate.”

“God, how big did they make you?”

“I could tell you,” Nines replied, but instead he simple popped the cap of the lube. “But how about you guess instead?”

“What if I told you I'm not fond of taking it up the ass?”

“I would tell you you are either a liar or I would make this as enjoyable as possible. I do not possess the functions necessary for being...in your position.” he added, eyes lingering up and down dramatically on Gavin's vulnerable frame. “If this is unenjoyable, then we can try other things.”

The android slid back onto the bed and, after covering Gavin's eyes with his body in view, the handcuffs broke free from his wrist. In a single movement, Gavin was flipped from belly to back, and Nines was straddling him yet again. From this spot in the dark, Gavin had to admit the android was gorgeous. The dim lights of the street and the brighter blues of the LED and armband accented him beautifully. He could make out the android's broad chest and thick arms, the muscles in its thighs bulging from holding him up in a precarious spot.

“God,” Gavin heard himself manage, sliding his free arms over the android's chest and slipping down past its ribs to rest on its thighs. “I don't...know what to say.”

“You appear to be entranced, Gavin. Is everything alright?”

“Y-Yeah, just, shit.” Gavin gestured to the android's body. “I didn't think they could make androids like this.”

“They did. But only one. I am unique.”

“I want you to stay that way.”

Nines exhaled for a long time before nodding. “It would be...difficult to become too far from what I have made for myself. I had only hoped the things I had chosen would further our relationship, so...”

“We just work together, man, you didn't need to go out and get a...” Gavin's eyes trailed lower and Nines' own followed.

“I did not think it would need to come to being...intimate. But it was a possibility that could not be ignored. Most androids have these sorts of modifications now, so it is not like what I requested was strange.”

“Whatever, just...can we get this going?”

“Of course.” Nines popped the top of the lubricant but hesitated, staring at the glossy liquid within. Gavin gave a little adjustment of his hips, running his own length across the underside of Nines' setup with an agitated huff.

“Be patient.” Nines ordered and leaned forward to press their lips together. Gavin struggled at first, wanting instead for a desperate fuck than something romantic, but it only took a few seconds before things melted together. Nines was inexperienced and Gavin tasted of cheap whiskey and anxiety, but two eventually found a good pace and settled with it. Beneath Nines' chest he could feel Gavin's heart hammering and it wasn't just the booze.

A hand reached down over his shoulders and smoothed down his back, fingertips digging in. There was no pain with that, but there was a sort of positive feeling. Gavin's hips were heady beneath his own and restless, and no matter how many times Nines hushed him or told him to calm, Gavin gave a needy little grunt and continued, redoubling his efforts.

Nines broke the kiss slowly, tugging on Gavin's bottom lip with his teeth and pulling enough to get a strangled moan from him. It wasn't difficult to download movies, see footage, see how humans made intimate choices and motions. He had the world at his databanks and while he wasn't going for anything explosive, he figured some teasing to drive the Detective up the wall was in order, and what a good call it was.

Gavin's lips were kiss-swollen and desperate, slick with his own spit and some thirium-coating of Nines' own 'saliva'. He was panting, chest heaving, hair a mess and eyelids fluttering. He was drunk and a mess, and covered in sweat but Nines knew that there was some charm to him. Somewhere. Probably really deep. Embedded beneath self-worth issues and hatred but it was there. He had seen him laugh before but never to him, never for him. Yet here he was, vulnerable and wanting, putty in his capable hands.

Nines felt the cold of the lube on his fingers and moved towards Gavin's rear, lifting his legs up onto his thighs and running slick across his entrance, a finger probing lightly. Gavin whimpered and shifted uncomfortably and Nines ran a dry hand across his stomach.

“Please let me know if this is uncomfortable in any way.”

“I can take it.”

“Interesting. Earlier you said that this is not how you prefer to--”

“Just shut up and do it, ok?” Gavin turned his head away but in the dark of the room, Nines could still make out his flushed face. Did this embarrass him? He wasn't sure. Humans partook in many sexual activities, this one seemed to be relatively common. He knew Gavin owned toys, had seen them hidden in the bathroom. Was it perhaps because he was an android?

A finger slid into Gavin's heat and he heard him suck in a sharp breath. The finger slid out to the tip and probed back in, working slowly. Gavin made a choked sound, ending in a shaky exhale. Nines watched him carefully. Gavin wasn't turning to look at him; his eyes were screwed shut tightly. Gavin Reed, the biggest mouth at the district, was coming undone and shy in the bedroom.

Nines pulled out the finger to the tip, slicked the second, and slid them both inside. This time, Gavin arched almost painfully and squeezed down on his fingers. He knew just how far to enter them, where to curl to touch that bump of flesh. Getting a choked sob or muffled moan every time. It wasn't until the third finger did Gavin start yo tremble. At first, Nines had thought he had injured him. The noise Gavin made was too loud, too sharp. A keening cry.

Nines fingers worked him, in and out and gentle, only pressing firm where they knew to hit the prostate and Gavin was a shuddering, squirming, moaning mess of precum and sweat. His heels dug into the sheets, thighs squeezing over Nines' own. With a slow pull, Nines wiped off his fingers and opened the lube bottle again. Gavin was already panting with his head tipped back, saliva sticking to his teeth in a sticky webbing of lust, hair cascading across his pillowcase damp with sweat.

Nines moved closer and aimed himself at Gavin, giving a gentle prod. The panting stopped, Gavin sitting up on his elbows in a start.

“Nines, what--?”

“Is this undesirable?” Nines asked. Teasingly, he bobbed his cock, a weird green color from the condom and slick with a thick glob of lube. Gavin's throat worked as he swallowed several times, eyes screwing up as he looked down at the mass at his entrance.

“N-No, I...” He frowned, dropped his head back the second Nines began to push. It took a few tries but Nines managed to align and slide in with no resistance save for the desperate squeezing and binding of Gavin's inner walls. At once, Gavin's hands clutched the sheets and his back arched into something almost painful looking. Nines moved deeper, slower, filling him perfectly to the brim. Hilted, Nines stopped and watched Gavin's chest heave as he took it all in and adjusted.

“I will wait until you are settled.” His voice came quietly, soothing. Gavin's left hand flung to his cock, tugging desperately at the flesh. His teeth were clenched and his eyes had managed to crack open.

“H-Hey, Nines...?”

“Yes?”

“Can you...can you do the uhm...” He swallowed again, a futile effort: his throat had run dry minutes ago. “The...eyes?”

Nines cocked his head, confused, but then realized what he meant and nodded. Grabbing a hold of Gavin's thighs, he adjusted himself comfortably on the sheets and watched the prompts run up in his field of vision. He selected the one he needed and within a half of a second, the room brightened considerably as if it were morning. To Gavin, the room gleamed brighter, awash in a blue glow. The LED had encompassed Nines' eyes, locking on Gavin's frame and moving slowly up his body. Past the hairs along his chest, upwards across the stubble on his neck and chin, over the kiss-swollen lips, along the scarred bridge of his nose...and finally to his eyes.

Gavin's breath stuttered for a moment, and then finally he whimpered. Nines had began moving slowly, that perfectly long, thick length running over Gavin's most sensitive areas, the lube warm and slick and everything wonderful within him. Nines pace was slow starting at first, and while Gavin wanted to tell him to go harder, go faster, there was something about the slow pace that was sending him over the edge and covering his vision in fuzzy stars.

Nines kept his eyes on Gavin's. Gavin, however, couldn't return the gesture. His head was tossed to the side, mouth agape, eyes tightly closed. Broken whimpers and harsh breaths were almost louder than the squeak of the bed and the slam of the headboard against the wall. Nines was perfectly silent save for the slap of his skin against Gavin's thighs, wet and noisy.

Gavin's toes were curling, his fingers tight around his cock. Half of the time, he couldn't even muster the strength to stroke himself off; the other half of the time, he was so frantically pumping, his forearms tensed. Nines matches his rhythm. Moved quicker, moved deeper, harder and softer. Gavin's body was milking Nines, clamping down with such a vice grip it was a wonder he could move any at all.

Nines paused and began to crawl over Gavin. Grabbing his chin, Nines forced him to look and, when their eyes met and he felt the stutter of Gavin's heart beneath him, he leaned forward with a deep kiss. Beneath him, Gavin's hand had stopped moving completely. Instead, his legs locked around Nines' back and pulled him in deeper, and, taking the hint, Nines got a firm grounding on the mattress and began to pump away in long, hard thrusts. Gavin couldn't return the kisses any longer. He was moaning hard into Nines' ear, biting desperately at his neck, his shoulders, anywhere he could reach.

Nines' skin would peel back to allow the silver-white underneath to show, to feel the teeth against his flesh. Gently, Nines opened his own mouth, kept the fangs hidden away, and scraped his blunter teeth along Gavin's neck. Gavin whimpered. Chills erupted down his back. A new wave of sweat began to bead across his skin and Nines picked up on his scent. He was getting close.

Gently nudging at Gavin's neck, Nines' bit down this time, hard enough to sting and leave a mark but not enough to draw blood. Nines' lips circled the flesh suckling gently, wet, lewd sounds were echoing in the room and Gavin couldn't handle it anymore. His body tensed and locked and bucking wildly against Nines stomach, he came violently. Nines turned his head to watch. Thick, ropey strands of sperm landed across Gavin's belly, a few trickles made their way to his pecs. The rest coiled and dribbled down from the tip to form a pool in his belly button.

Gavin was making stuttering gasps, clawing desperately at Nines' biceps. Nines stopped moving and let Gavin ride down his high. He could feel his heart rate spike, felt it jump rapidly from the orgasm. The heat in the room had raised, Gavin's breathing had become shallow in pants. A soft moan left the man's lips and Nines remained. Holding the detective close, letting him calm down and relax. He felt the muscles in Gavin's body uncoil, relaxing in the afterglow. Nines sat back on his knees and watched the detective heave with every breath.

“....shit.” Gavin managed after a few minutes. Nines simply blinked down at the mess he had made before pulling out slowly, eliciting another broken cry from the man. Nines, though not able to cum himself, still filled the condom a little with his own lubricant and tied it off, dropping it in a small wastebasket beside Gavin's bed. Gavin had thrown a hand over his eyes, mouth in an 'o' shape from his labored breathing.

Nines returned to his spot on the bed before gently lowering down beneath his thighs. Gavin, feeling the bed move, glanced down just as Nines made eye contact and delivered a slow swipe against his thigh, licking the liquid free and swallowing it down.

“Don't...” Gavin murmured, a small tremble down his body. Nines tilted his head.

“Why not, Reed?”

His tongue flicked out against his thigh before his lips made contact, sucking and suctioning the flesh with his teeth hidden in his mouth. Gavin blinked rapidly, turned his head away again, an audible suck of air from his mouth.,

“Is this not allowed?”

“I-It is, but...fuck. It's hot.”

Nines let out a small rush of air from his noise, giving Gavin's shaft a languid lick up the underside just to hear him mewl. With that, he got up to the bathroom and returned with some wet wipes, cleaning Gavin off and watching him hiss from the coldness of each pad.

“Hey...Nines.”

“Yes, Gavin?”

“Look, I-I...I'm an asshole. I know that. Blaming you for shit you can't help...I'm sorry.”

“What was that?” Nines asked, a small smirk on his lips.

“I'm not sayin' it again, prick.”

“That is fine. I have already recorded and documented it. Perhaps Anderson would like to hear you say sorry.”

“You're a fucking asshole, you know that? I take it back. Get the fuck out of my room.”

“As if.” The android threw out the wipes before leaving the room and returning with some water. He helped Gavin sit up on shaky legs and watched him drink it all, making sure he took the aspirin hidden in his nightstand before the glass was finished. Nines told him he didn't want to work with someone hungover, to which Gavin responded he had a day off and it was already ruined with his apology being recorded.

 

Nines was holding Gavin against his chest, feeling the heartbeat beneath his fingers. Gavin was human. He was stupid, and greedy, and made mistakes. But he was human after all. He lived and breathed and learned lessons. Nines was perfect. He knew everything and could only improve upon his knowledge. He was built to be that way from the second he left the factory. He didn't need to be scolded or instructed by parents. Didn't need schools or colleges or degrees. He just knew.

Gavin didn't. Gavin got mad, ran on emotions and instinct and a really bad diet. Went to work stressed, tried to screw away his feeling in some Eden Club dive. Nines wondered how tonight would have played out if he hadn't been here. Would Gavin have had to call someone to come help? Would he have broken his arm trying to uncuff himself fruitlessly?

“Hey, Nines? You awake?” Gavin's voice came quietly in the dark. Husky and worn out, but there. Audible to Nines' heightened ears.

“Yes.”

“Good. Just checking.” he replied. Silent.

“I, uhm...thanks. F-For earlier. It was uhhh.” Gavin cleared his throat and Nines felt his temperature raise. “It's...it was...nicer than some...bar fuck. That was the first time I've been kissed like that since college.”

Gavin grew quiet and he didn't understand why. Nines knew kissing was pleasurable by humans and that it could increase their bonds. Was not being kissed such a big deal? He didn't understand why Gavin had seemed so sad until he smelled the sting of tears in the air.

Gavin was crying and Nines felt he was the reason why.

He didn't understand. He would commit himself to trying harder in the future. For now, he rested a hand against Gavin's hair and entangled his fingertips in the brown tresses until he knew the Detective had fallen asleep. Tomorrow would be better.

 


	5. Error Log

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines isn't there when Gavin wakes up and he assumes the worst; a quick trip to Kamski's house brings on some unwanted words from the both of them.

Tina handed Gavin a coffee at their usual spot for break and then slipped him half of a sub sandwich she had bought. Gavin mumbled a thank you, took a bite, and just chewed in silence, never removing his glare from the table.

“You look like shit,” she said, smiling. He gave her a sneer and slapped his hand on the table.

“Barely slept last night,” he responded. She quirked an eyebrow and her grin grew but Gavin chose to ignore it. “Nin—RK900 is going back to Cyberlife once the bullpen fills up with more cops and shit. They're gonna wipe his memory and decommission him.”

“So?” Tina asked, pushing her wad of sandwich to her cheek. “You hate androids anyways. Ain't that a good thing? Or are you upset you have to do paperwork again?”

“It's not...that.” he said. He suddenly couldn't find the words. All this time he'd joke and insult and humiliate androids at work with Chen on break but now it all felt...horrible. He felt sick. Guilty. He could never have known he'd befriend an android—to lie in bed with it—to care about its well-being even after a bullet tore through its chassis.

He felt utterly torn in two.

“You wouldn't understand,” is what he went with, swallowing another bite of the cold sandwich. Tina scoffed, grinning.

“Of course I don't. I trust my own vacuum cleaner more than I trust one of those things.”

Gavin visibly flinched.

“Besides, outside of Connor, the other androids here are only good for cleaning and being coat racks. I'm honestly glad they have to charge or whatever at night. Can you imagine having one living with you? Anderson must sleep with one eye open.”

Gavin's fist hit the table and forced Tina to scuttle back in surprise.

“Yeah? And if I told you he stays at home with me, what would you do?”

Tina blinked before bursting into laughter. “I'd say you got fucked up, Reed. That thing's meant to destroy, not be your new boyfriend.”

Gavin's face must have reddened because her features softened into shock and recognition. “No fucking way...!”

“Look, it wasn't anything planned, alright? It just...happened.”

“It just...happened.” Chen parroted slowly as if the words didn't quite register in her head. Gavin gave a weak nod, gaze twisting back to the fake wooden print of the break table. “You don't just 'happen' to get seduced by an android. I didn't think they even came with...” She made a gesture with her two hands held up together and pulled them apart to make a decent length. Gavin rolled his eyes, choked down another bite. He wasn't even sure what kind of sandwich he had; he didn't even taste it.

“So where _is_ the boyfriend?” Chen teased, resting her chin on her hand and beaming. Gavin's head turned away slowly.

“I don't know. We had a...fight.”

“I'm not surprised, this happens with every person you meet. I want some deets, Reed.”

“No.”

“C'mon! I should have screamed at the bullpen by now saying you got _fucked by your android_. It's the least you could do for me! All we do is share secrets.”

He glowered, but ultimately sighed and rolled his shoulders.

“I...came home drunk one night after getting into an argument. Went to the bar and came back with some bitch, I dunno. Handcuffed me to my own bed.” Chen snorted but covered her mouth. Gavin had half a mind to walk away but he'd already said too much. “She walked out and he had to help me and...things just sort of happened. And then...he told me he was going to go back to Cyberlife to be turned off one day soon and I...I lost it.”

He ran a hand through his messy hair, slicked back by the force of his palm and sweat alone and frowned.

“I...I yelled. As loudly as I could. I really think I hurt his hearing because when I woke up he was just...in stasis. In the same spot I left him that night, just sitting on his knees on the floor.”

Chen's mouth opened to say something but Gavin quickly countered 'not like that'.

“I couldn't even bring myself to wake him up. I took a shower and came out to get dressed and he was gone. No note o-or anything. Just up and left. He mentioned having to go back to Cyberlife for some repairs, but other than that...I'm not sure. I don't know where he could be.”

Chen drummed her fingers across the table and just stared at him for an annoyingly long time before she sighed and slapped his shoulder.

“You really care about him, huh?” she asked. There was no bite to her voice, just the acceptance of a friend. He rolled his shoulders again.

“If he's just gonna be turned off, why fucking bother? I should have just...” he groaned, ran his fingers through his hair again but with an agitated tussle, sending the strands flying in a messy display.

“Well...I can't help you there,” she admitted. “But...if you know he's at Cyberlife, why don't you go there and make amends?”

“You know why.” he growled quietly.

“Kamski.”

“Yeah,” he frowned. “Nines has direct contact with him since he's the only one skilled enough to make the adjustments and repairs, s-so...”

“Nines?”

“I don't...like calling him by his stupid serial number or model number or whatever number. He's just...Nines.”

“Hm,” Chen gave a little lopsided grin. “I like it. Well...nobody said you had to go see your brother. You could always just show up and ask if he's there and hightail it if he isn't.”

“Yeah, you're right, but who knows if he IS there and I got work until eight.”

“Skip out,” she said. “You're a detective, aren't you? Go get some fucking fieldwork done.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow but Chen just turned her back, balling up her sandwich's cellophane and tossing it into the closest waste bin.

“Tell the boyfriend I said hello.” she teased, walking through the doors back to the bullpen, leaving Gavin feeling more alone than he already was.

 

 

Gavin did exactly as Chen suggested. Nobody really noticed whenever he slipped out of work anyways, whether for a quick smoke break or to blow off some steam by going outside and just cooling down from whatever events triggered his rage. So when he made it to his car and locked the doors, sliding his seatbelt over his chest, he realized nobody probably even knew or cared he was gone. It stung his pride a little bit but he knew that it was the truth. He was 'abrasive' as Nines had put it. Tough to get along with. All those years clawing and crawling up the promotional ladder only to be stuck behind Anderson. Both were, at one point, a step away from being fired. But now, he wasn't so sure.

Ever since the revolution and ever since Connor came to the precinct, Hank was happy. Work got done. Cases got solved. The hard-boiled lieutenant had chipped out of the mask it had built around itself. The man Gavin had once looked up to and idolized had returned, slurring away from drunken stupors and TNT-like aggressive explosions—mostly towards him. He had it coming; he always antagonized. Maybe it was because he was jealous of the man. Maybe it was because he was disgusted seeing him let himself go and wallow in self-pity and Black Lamb.

Gavin hesitated with his hands on the ignition key before he slipped his phone out of his pocket and sent Nines a text.

_“Hey. Where are you? We need to talk.”_

Nothing. The text didn't bounce back so Nines' communications were still open. He waited a few minutes and lit a quick cigarette before texting him another quick message, balancing the butt between his scarred lips.

_“Really wanna talk about what fucking happened. Answer me, Nines.”_

He dusted out the cigarette and shotgunned his own reflection in the rearview mirror before his phone vibrated. Glancing at the text, he frowned and then grew upset.

_“RK900 is currently unavailable. Please attempt communication at a later time.”_

Sighing between his clenched teeth he typed furiously.

_“This ain't automated. Elijah or Chloe?”_

A delay. A small vibration.

_“This is Chloe.”_

“Fucking great. So he's there.” Gavin growled into his palm, bouncing his foot impatiently on the brake before adjusting in the seat to a more upright position.

_“I'm coming over. If Elijah says no, tell him he can go fuck himself. I don't want him near Nines.”_

A delay, a vibrate. But he was already shifting the key and testing the gas, reversing out of the police parking lot and heading towards the far-end of the town.

 

 

The drive was a good thirty five or so minutes away and he took that time to psych himself up. He didn't need to go inside; the Chloe—whichever one it was—would probably just leave him in the main hall and retrieve Nines for him. Elijah wouldn't be fucked to come see him as always. Even if he locked the door, Gavin was a cop, and he could claim theft.

“Yeah, alright, blame the creator for stealing back its creation,” he bit bitterly over the loud bass of his car's stereo, playing a song from his youth. It briefly brought back memories of a time in college when he and Elijah had gone to their concert, screaming and cheering and splashing each other with overpriced booze from plastic cups. The last few times they got along.

Gavin flicked his blinker on and turned down a side road. Elijah's house was large and in the middle of nowhere but that didn't mean it was impossible to find. He knew the shortcut to get here, had seen Amanda drive down it so many times. Back then, the house was still a research lab; Amanda's own. It had since been renovated to be larger and while it had grown, it felt emptier. Most people never saw the rest of it or the other floors: Elijah let them see what they had to see and nothing more, a creature of privacy and wariness.

He slowly drove up the driveway. There were some trucks there he didn't recall seeing but he assumed parts delivery or android shipping. The house was as gaudy as he recalled, all sharp angles and black finish. There were 'windows' on the outside but most only reflected back the scenery like a mirror, a freshly waxed car. He was rich and of course he'd flaunt it. He didn't recall if Amanda's version of the house was the same. It had been so long.

Before he knew it, he had mustered the courage to stand at the front door and buzz it. He didn't expect them to answer; any of them. If Elijah was preoccupied, he wouldn't fucking bother. The Chloes only did as he instructed so they could have been told to ignore him. Gavin's impatience was legendary. He pressed against the buzzer again, feeling it screaming into the large house. Annoying. He hoped it was annoying. In the back of his mind, he quickly thought of Nines flinching from the sound, and his finger let go involuntarily.

Was he guilty?

The door opened and sure enough, an uncannily gorgeous blonde robot stood before him in a navy blue cut dress, LED bluer than the dress or her eyes could ever hope to be.

“You did show up,” she said, almost startled, though her voice was quite calm.

“Yeah. Where is he?” Gavin snapped. Chloe took in a small breath and waved a hand towards the inside of the house and Gavin stepped inside, wiped his feet, and frowned. Staring back at him was his brother. A large portrait bordered in a thick frame. His first interview after making Thirium, after the first android successful in the Turing test. It was the first time in a long time Gavin had seen his brother shave, had cut his hair., wore contacts instead of thick-rimmed glasses. And he was staring at him indifferently, hand in his suit slacks, looking all business instead of the usual shy, dorky half-sibling he had always known. Gavin could feel him glaring back as if it'd make him feel any better before catching a picture on another wall. 

Amanda's smiling face beamed back at him. Months before she had passed away suddenly from illness. Elijah was next to her, long hair tossed behind his shoulders, glasses nowhere to be seen. He had started using contacts then for work but he didn't like them. They were convenient for when he had to use safety goggles however, and until he got prescription goggles, he opted for that convenience to get him through the day. Amanda looked so proud of him. And Elijah...well, he looked the 'honor roll student'. Beaming and holding an arm to the smaller woman, crouched down a little so they were both in frame, the college he went to blurred in the background.

“What would she think of you now?” Gavin asked, frowning. Her little pet project was a billionaire. Kickstarted the revolution. And now, he was tucked away in the middle of nowhere right behind Belle Isle, overlooking the bridge to Canada, hidden from the disgusting city and dirty lights. His own personal paradise.

“Chloe, where's Nines?” Gavin asked. The android shuffled a little on her feet and frowned.

“He's currently in induced stasis.”

“The fuck's that mean?” Gavin asked. It didn't sound good.

“When an android undergoes repairs or in-depth diagnostics outside of their own capabilities, their body will undergo a forced stasis. It was the human equivalent of anesthesia although android senses will remain intact for the duration.”

“He's been put to sleep?”

“In a sense. It is to ensure the android's system securities and warnings do not cause any instability of the body or try to cause bodily or systemic harm”

“Chloe...” Gavin stepped towards her, staring down his nose at her. She didn't shrink away but she did blink a little uncomfortably and shift on the balls of her feet.

“An android that doesn't undergo forced stasis will...try to delete itself in serious cases. Try to wipe its hard drive and memory saves. It is a failsafe in place. I do believe you've dealt with something similar when an android is stressed.”

Gavin felt suddenly sick. He recalled Carlos Ortiz's android several months ago, the way Connor kept urging him to leave it alone, to let it calm down. The way he forced the cops to try and pry it from the seat. The way it bashed its own head in, committing suicide. One false move...and that could have been Nines?

He sat down, frowning, ran his fingers down his face, hiding behind a potted plant so his brother's portrait couldn't judge him for feeling guilt over an android.

“I will go see if Elijah will allow you to come visit RK900.” she said and left the room in utter silence. For some reason, being left alone disturbed him and it wasn't the photographs on the wall; it was his own thoughts. He had been here dozens of times, albeit unwillingly, for holiday parties or whatever else, some semblance of being a family though he always felt out of place and poverty-stricken being in the presence of that many suits and dresses, the stench of caviar and fine wines. It was more of a formality than anything; Elijah didn't drink much and hated caviar but those who donated and kept his company running smoothly loved them. Keeping face is what he called it.

Gavin glanced down at his sneakers on a rich carpet he practically sunk into and frowned, recalling all the uncomfortable parties where he had to dress up in the finest clothes he could find at Wal-mart. He shifted uncomfortably on the carpet before a door opened and a Chloe stepped out. While dressed the same as the first, he knew this one was different; her eyes were a grey-ish, rather than blue. A clone model.

“Right this way,” she said, stepping towards the door she exited and leading him inside. It was a long hallway with several doors, mostly more paintings and photographs framed, some old blueprints of androids—specifically Chloe's model—and the original RK100. Some more blueprints, this time signed by Prof. Stern. He walked by them, keeping his feet strictly on the narrow strip of carpet until they arrived at a cascading stairwell that branched off in two directions, heading downstairs. He followed the new Chloe downward where they went into another long hallway, this time surrounded on both sides by large glass fish tanks, emitting a glowing blue light.

Gavin glanced at both walls, watching the fish swim lazily. The tanks were very well-kept, the filters having no spots of grime and the glass polished inside and out. He could see his reflection and for a moment wondered what a miserable person he was staring back at. It disgusted him. Hated the way his hair fell over his face, the scruff of his beard that grew down his neck no matter how often he trimmed, his old, faded hoodie. Looking like utter trash next to a gorgeously immaculate Chloe model, a hallway with fish. He couldn't compare.

At the end of the hallway was a single door and a button that was glowing red. Gavin recognized that; it was a fingerprint scanner that they used at work as well. He sighed and crossed his arms, feeling the sudden shortness of breath. Kamski was right behind that door...but so was Nines. Chloe registered her fingerprint—did androids even have those?--and stepped inside. Gavin hesitated but quickly followed and the door slid shut.

Inside was a familiar site. Messes of wires and ports, screws, boxes and batteries, a whole mess of tools and junk scattered on every table. Had it not been a workshop, the gurneys with straps would have been concerning, three of them against two walls facing opposite each other. He could hear the sound of a drill spinning furiously, the grind of metal on metal, a flash of light in the far corner from where the sound was coming from.

Chloe went towards the light and dipped around a corner, and while Gavin couldn't hear what they were saying, he made out his brother's voice, as deep and annoying as it had always been. He took another breath, stepped carefully over the plugs and cables, and made his way around.

This section of the room was pristine white, nothing but a large glass pod. The pod's glass was opened and slipped back, large, claw-like cranes were moving to and fro, some in place and others pinching and prodding, pulling things to Kamski's hands. This was the brother he remembered. Kamski's hair was tossed back in a loose ponytail, thick glasses pushed close up his nose, some slight stubble from an apparent all-nighter. He wore some baggy clothes which were slathered in grease and Thirium, the blue fading in some spots, fresh in others. Behind him was a large vat of the stuff and a bag attached to it, a pseudo-IV drip.

In front of him stood Nines and that's when Gavin started running towards him.

“The fuck are you doing?” he snapped. Elijah didn't say a word; his mouth was full of small screws and a couple of large needle-like appendages. He instead shook his head and glared at his younger sibling, turning back to Nines.

The android's skin was gone, a canvas of silvers, whites, and pale blues. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly ajar, arms and legs held by the large cranes. Gavin was going to say something mean but recalled Chloe's warnings and instead stopped. Nines could hurt himself if disturbed. Kamski put down the screws carefully in a tiny cardboard box and turned to look at Gavin, wiping off his hands on a rag.

“You showed up after all,” was all he said, looking behind him at a blueprint and running his middle finger along some measurements.

“Yeah, I did. What the fuck is going on?” Gavin asked angrily. Kamski sighed, already tired of his brother's behavior, and instead pointed at Nines, still in stasis, LED flashing white like it had every night.

“Doing routine repairs and maintenance, Gavin, what does it look like?”

“A torture chamber, if I'm being honest.” Gavin retorted. It did sort of resemble one from the outside; if Thirium was red, there'd be cause for alarm, the way it stained the floors and tools currently.

“Well, it's not. Any other questions?” Kamski asked, turning his attention to a small flashlight and pressing it to Nines' chassis, the compartment opening up and revealing a large circular tube. Gavin recognized that; could make out the indent on Nines' chest. The Thirium pump, an android's heart in many cases. Kamski grabbed a hold of it and yanked it out, a timer set above his Nines' head on the wall counting down. One minute, twenty seconds. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen.

“The fuck did you do?!” Gavin snarled, rushing to Nines' side. Kamski said nothing, working quickly with a tiny tool and setting a small yellow wire through a loop previously left open. He dusted it off with some tiny rag and then jammed it back inside Nine's chest with an audible click. The timer stopped. Nine's body jolted, shuddered, and went motionless again.

“Can he...feel that?” Gavin asked. Kamski gave a small nod.

“It doesn't hurt, if that's what you're wondering. Though even in stasis, having his pump regulator removed will have caused some adverse effects.”

“Like what?”

“Well, warning screens for one, telling him to put it back in. Possible component shutdown if not done quickly. There's no need for concern, in fact, he's going to be fine.” Kamski began to thread the yellow cord into a new component in the chassis, Chloe coming over and dabbing his forehead with a cloth as he thanked her. His eyes were intense and focused and somehow, Gavin felt nostalgic. The same look he had at night when he studied, when he became engrossed in a book or even cooked. But now, it was serious. Working on a top-of-the-line android, the best he had ever made; one false mistake and he could damage something for good.

“Why did you come here, Gavin?” Kamski asked. There was no emotion to his voice, a simple question while he worked. A simple question that Gavin had no answer to. What could he say? That he had started to fall head over heels for a fucking android his brother had designed—for him—or the fact that he was here to rectify a lover's quarrel? He didn't know, couldn't know, was unsure what to say.

“I...was worried.”

“About the RK900? Why?”

“That's not his name.”

“I'm sorry?” Kamski asked, glancing over briefly to see his brother's face and returning to work. “I believe I'd know an android's model.”

“That's not his name. It's Nines.” Gavin said indignantly. “That's the name I gave him. That's what he's called.”

“I see,” There was a loud noise, another scream of the drill. Nines' left hand's fingers twitched and clenched the whole time. A jerk reaction, an extension of the repair. “Well then, 'Nines'. You're worried about him? That's not like you, Gavin. I could have sworn all these years you despised them and yet--”

“Why did you make him for me?”

“You're mistaken, Gavin, I didn't make him for you.”

“Nines told me himself that he was made based on preference, my preference. You're gonna sit there and lie to me and say that you didn't? I know you, Eli, I know this is some shit you'd pull.”

Kamski wiped his hands off again and leaned back against the table by his elbows, sighing and dipping his chin to his chest.

“All those months in college, Gavin. Every single night you kept me up. Stupid music--”

“We enjoyed those bands.”

“--stupid parties--”

“They were your friends, too.”

“--needless drinking--”

“I was desperate to relax.”

“--and constant one-night stands--”

“--I...” Gavin didn't have an excuse. It was true. He'd take whoever he could back to his room, pop a beer, blast some music to try and drown out the muffled moans and screams and squeak of his shitty dorm bed while Elijah studied across the room by a divider, doing his best to make his thesis statements for the morning, to take test after test in Amanda's presence.

“Unlike you, Gavin, I took college seriously, and look where it got me.”

“Of course, you'd fucking go for a low blow, Eli, you always fucking go there, don't you?!”

“I didn't mean...” Kamski sighed, setting down a tool and running a hand across his scalp. “All I'm saying is...if you took college seriously, maybe you wouldn't have had to settle for a childish dream of being a cop. I get it; dad was scum, mom died from a sickness. Who knows where your dad is.”

“I don't fucking care where he is.” Gavin said, quickly swiping his nose. “Besides, he was a piece of shit who only knocked mom up and fucking decided I wasn't worth keeping. Gave the rest of his drug money to her to get rid of me. Maybe she should've.”

“Gavin, I didn't mean...” Kamski sighed again, fingertips touching the top of the table. “Every investigation and software error that occurred in the RK800—in Connor—was sent back to me. I saw everything, heard everything, condensed data and information. It wasn't that I specifically designed the RK900 for you; I thought it would be amusing to send you a taste of your own medicine. He wasn't supposed to be your partner, he wasn't supposed to be given to you, but he was. And, when he came here for adjustments, I...”

Gavin's face reddened. “It wasn't supposed to...we didn't...I...” He huffed angrily. “Fuck, whatever, ok? I didn't expect here to fucking...come back with a dick, ok? It was a backhanded insult a-and shit just happened, so...”

“Gavin.”

“What?”

“Did you sleep with my brand new android model?”

Gavin choked and Kamski crossed his arms, a lopsided smile on his features. “I was simply referring to some other adjustments he had done; I don't deal with the, uh...'human' aspect of the add-ons. But, at least things haven't changed since college.”

“Whatever, Eli, ok? I came on to him, s-so..”

“I don't need to know that,” Kamski said, lifting his hands, turning back to Nines and moving behind him to touch the port behind his neck. He tugged on a wire gently and slid it out, setting another cord in an identical slot above it. Charging port.

“Look....I'm sorry,” Kamski said, leaning against the wall and looking past Nines and at his younger brother. “I am. I never tried to push you away or anything like that, I was too focused on the present and the future. I didn't think about you because I thought you were being an asshole to spite me.”

“You're gonna try and apologize now? It's been years, Eli. What made you want to say all this shit now?”

“I...never had the words. I still don't. All these years and I tried to find them. You stumbled through college and dropped out and I thought only of myself. My room was quiet and I could focus on my studies and had the time to do the research I needed. At the time, it was a blessing. I thought nothing of myself and because of that, I invented androids. Thirium became so needed, it cost me little to nothing to make and yet was more important than human blood and organs. And yet...you struggled. You became miserable. When the androids come out, I thought you would be happy but you despised them. Attacked Connor so many times, pulled a gun on him, and now?” Kamski laughed and looked over at his brother, adjusting his glasses and pushing them higher up his nose. “And now...you came running almost an hour away just to see if Nines was alright. What a change the few months have brought,”

“I didn't come to see if a fucking android was 'okay', Eli,” Gavin snarled. “I came to make sure you don't fucking add anything else. To tell you not to fucking take him back. He told me he'd have to come here to be decommissioned and I am NOT about to lose my best partner in years.”

“I'm not going to take him back, Gavin.”

Kamski walked over towards Nines and gently touched the LED on his temple, lighting his fingers up in white. He looked almost sad, eyes glancing over its features before gesturing for Gavin to come over. With a quick finger, he motioned for Gavin to stand on the right side of the android while he stood on the left.

“Look.” Kamski said, and with the palm of his hand, he pulled back Nines' eyelids. The blue eyes were glancing to the side, straight at Gavin. He sucked in a breath, somewhat startled. The eyes were the same bright blue they had always been, and it was the rest that bothered him. The whites of his eyes were black now, bringing the blue to the surface even more. The pupils were smaller than he had remembered, almost eaten by the color. Kamski closed them, gestured for Gavin to switch places. He did the same, pulling back the eyes, still focused on Gavin.

“Even in stasis,” Kamsi started. “He's watching you. Keeping you safe. His eyes can't quite see right now; not exactly. But he can feel you. I...” Kamski frowned, looking up at the charging meter and then towards Gavin. “I wanted to keep you safe. I know you used to take Red Ice.”

“Excuse me?” Gavin asked, growling. “I haven't touched that shit in years.”

“I know. But...the relapse rate is so high, the components in the stuff are highly addictive and I worried. I couldn't call you and ask if you were clean; I'm not going to be that kind of person. I had Connor send back reports for me and when I saw how tired you were, I panicked. I assumed the worst. So, I made sure Nines was there to keep an eye on you. I didn't expect him to get attached.”

“You sent him to fucking babysit me!?” Gavin asked, stepping towards his brother. Realize his voice had raised and lowered it, so close to Nines. Even at his boiling point he was worrying about a hunk of plastic.

“No. No, I didn't. I just needed to know if you were alright. I know you didn't want to talk to me.” Kamski looked back up at Nines, gently put his hand on the android's pristine shoulder. “But every time he comes here, sends a report, he always talks about you fondly. He was designed to never become deviant, and yet, it's as if he's become attached even with his programming intact.”

“I want him to have the choice.”

“Of what?”

“I want him to be allowed to become deviant. It's not fucking fair that Anderson's fucking toy got the decision and Nines can't. He can do his missions and make his bog boy choices, can't he?”

“I...can't.” Kamski said. Gavin inhaled to yell but Kamski's hand flew up. “The government told me I was unable to remove the programming. However,” he said, removing his hand from the android. “I always leave an exit. If he can find it...who knows. Deviancy isn't as complicated as 0s and 1s. All he needs is...a push.”

Kamski slipped his hand behind the android's neck and slid out the charging cable.

“You can...continue this back at home. He has more than enough energy to make it there safely. I just...wanted you to know, Gavin, that...” Kamski's mouth twisted to the side in thought, fingers idly gripping a strand of hair. “I do worry about you. I'm proud of what you've done. And,” he smiled, a smug turn of his corners. “If you fell in love with one of my androids, then I'm glad you found someone special.”

“Fuck you.” Gavin sneered. Kamski just kept smiling.

“RK900, maintenance complete.” Kamski responded instead. With a shudder, the android breathed in and the pale white of its flesh became flooded with soft pinks and creams instead. Chloe helped the android into some underwear and held the rest of his clothes as he woke slowly. Gavin stood away and leaned against the table with his head towards the ground, not quite hearing what Nines and Kamski were discussing. He came here to get his android, not some fucking apology he didn't ask for.

His rage melted away when he glanced up and caught Nines staring, giving him a small nod but looking downtrodden. He felt guilty. Nines snuck away so as not to anger him but wanted him to know he felt bad about it? Gavin didn't understand. He had a high-end android designed to never fail, and here it was, looking sheepish over nothing.

Maintenance complete, Kamski handed Nines a large box that was taped and another smaller one on top and told him that it 'should be enough', Nines thanked him, apologized for coming in suddenly, and turned towards Gavin who was still glaring at the ground, arms crossed.

“Do you not wish to say goodbye to Mr. Kamski?” he asked.

“Fuck no.” Gavin responded, stepping outside. Nines glanced back towards Kamski, who seemingly knew that would happen, already talking to a Chloe as she shut the door behind them and they waited for their taxi.

 

 

Once home, Nines stuck the box in the fridge and sat down on the couch, reaching into the smaller box for a large cable and plugged it in, dropping his head and moving his skin away to reveal the back panel of his neck. Twisting the cord inside, he jolted and then settled, hands crossed on his lap.

“Don't do that again.” Gavin demanded. Nines peered up at him with too-blue eyes and blinked curiously.

“Don't...at least send me a text. If you go there, I mean.” Gavin said, turning away to pretend to be interested in his snake, currently invisible in the enclosure.

“I did not mean to offend you, Gavin, I simply needed--”  
“I know. Okay? I...I know.”

“Then why are you upset again?” Nines asked. No bite to his words, no anger. Raw, unfiltered curiosity. Gavin frowned and sighed, plopping down hard on the couch next to him.

“You recorded the conversation in there...didn't you?” Gavin asked.

“Yes,” Nines replied. Honest as usual.

“Of course you did.” Gavin rubbed at his nose and looked at the TV blankly. It wasn't turned on. “Why did you decide to go for me?”

“I do not know.” Nines replied, looking at his hands in his lap. “Not every decision you make has to have a meaning behind it. Sometimes you just feel the need to act upon it.”

“That's dumb.” Gavin replied. Nines simply nodded.

“I am the one needing to apologize, Gavin. I did not mean to insult you when I referred to our joining as me not feeling anything romantically. I felt many things that night. However, I am unsure what these feelings are.”

“That makes two of us.” Gavin said, this time opting to flick the TV on. Volume low, subtitles on. He sighed and adjusted his seating. “It's...ok. Truth be told, I was drunk, I only remember bits and pieces anyways. I dunno if I even felt anything, either. I just needed a good fuck and went looking in the wrong places and having my partner literally become my partner wasn't the smartest shit for me to do.”

“You regret our sex?” Nines asked, looking over.

“No, I don't. I regret being fucking drunk. I regret taking advantage of you. I'm not usually like that and I hate knowing that that's how you must think of me.”

“I do not think any less of you. Humans use alcohol to cope with painful things. Is being around me painful, Gavin?”

“No, Nines, it's not. I promise.” He stared hard at the TV and tried to find the words but ultimately failed. “I'm not a good person, Nines. I'm an asshole. I drink, I get mad, I get physically aggressive. I rinse and repeat it every day like clockwork. And I'm an asshole to you, too. I fucking shouted when I shouldn't have, I hit you when I shouldn't have, I-I...that isn't who I wanna be, alright? I don't wanna be like that.”

Nines looked over at him with a little frown but said nothing. Gavin was baring his soul uncomfortably for him. Even if he lacked the words, the meaning was there.

“When I am done charging...can we try again?”

“What?” Gavin asked.

“Can we try again?”

“Try what again?” Gavin asked, but the words pieced together. “You want to...really? After all that shit, you really wanna fuck me again?”

“It is not for the pleasure aspect so much as the closeness. It is said sexual acts are meant to make your partner happy and content, as well as bring them closer together. Perhaps that can be us.”

“Nines, I...don't know how to tell you this, but no human fucks to be 'happy and content'. They do it because they're horny and wanna get off or they wanna make a baby.”

“I see. I will commit that to memory.” Nines said quietly. Focused back on the TV. It wasn't until Gavin felt the cold of the android's hand on his own minutes later in the awkward silence did he look over. Nines' head was drooped to his chest, eyes shut, LED flashing softly white and then nothing. Asleep in stasis. Gavin couldn't help but make a little smile, squeezing the android's hand in his own.

“For an android, you're fucking stupid,” he told Nines, who didn't wince this time. Not until Gavin reached over and placed a quick, scruffy peck on the LED-free side of his temple. “But at least we're both pretty stupid to love each other, huh?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of Start-up Sequence is done. Part 2 is gonna hurt. Who's ready?
> 
> As always, I'm @Foxflannel on Twitter, come say hello!


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